A singer. A songwriter. A prodigy. With just a
few notes, she's made some of the most influential men and women in America stop
in their tracks to find her, and meet her. She possesses a rare talent that has
enchanted talk show hosts, celebrities and audiences throughout the United States.
And she's determined to take the music world by storm. Her
name is JoJo. In the outskirts of Boston, Massachusetts
JoJo grew up in a home filled with song. Her mother, a church soloist and trained
musical theater performer, would practice hymns and arias alike while a young
JoJo watched, listened and learned. She imitated her mother's incredible range
as well as the sounds that breezed through the family's home stereo: Ella Fitzgerald,
Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and Etta James. "When I was two years old,
I would sing nursery rhymes. I would do riffs on them and make them jazzy,"
JoJo remembers. It was at this early age that she taught herself to interpret
the pop and blues tunes she heard with her own distinctive and unique style. Eager
to perform in venues other than her living room, JoJo searched for her first big
break. She found it in a small newspaper clipping that advertised an audition
for CBS-TV's Kids Say the Darndest Things On The Road In Boston. Her soul and
passion left the producers speechless and she was immediately given a spot to
perform. Once JoJo hit the stage, Bill Cosby, the show's host, asked her to sing
a little something for the people-packed Faneuil Hall. JoJo belted out a show-stopping
rendition of Aretha Franklin's "Respect" which earned her an overwhelming
response from the audience. (As well as from Bill Cosby, himself.) A phone call
from The Oprah Winfrey show followed soon after, inviting the young girl to appear
on the show. "When it came to performing, I just had no fear," says
JoJo. All at once things began to happen. Calls from
talk show producers and music festival organizers began to pour in. JoJo did them
all, singing at places as diverse as a Boston Celtics basketball game and the
Republican National Convention. But it was at McDonald's 2001 Gospelfest (at Town
Hall in New York City) where JoJo brought down the house with one single song.
On a bill with music greats such as Melba Moore, JoJo let loose her pipes on "I
Believe in You and Me," Whitney Houston's smash hit from The Preacher's Wife.
"The place went crazy!" JoJo exclaims. "They gave me a standing
ovation, and when I walked off stage, Cissy Houston, Whitney's mother, said to
me 'You did a great job out there.'" Such a glowing endorsement was simply
priceless to the young singer. |
