Jo Dee Messina

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Jo Dee Messina
Jo Dee Messina in Naples, Italy in January 2007
Background information
Birth name	Jo-Dee Marie Messina
Born	August 25, 1970 (1970-08-25) (age 37)
Origin	Holliston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Genre(s)	Country
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)	vocals Rhythm guitar Piano
Years active	1996 – present
Label(s)	Curb
Website	Jo Dee Messina Official Site

Jo Dee Messina (born Jo Dee Marie Messina, August 25, 1970 in Holliston, Massachusetts, U.S.) is an American Country Music Singer-songwriter. To date, she has charted nine Number One singles on the Billboard country music charts, has been honored by The Country Music Association, The Academy of Country Music and The Grammy Awards and was the first female country artist to score three multiple-week #1 songs from the same album.^[1]

Jo Dee Messina was one of the most successful female country artists of the late 1990s and new millennium. She was the first female Country singer to have three multiple-week No. 1 hits from the same album. To date, she has two Platinum and three Gold-certified albums by the RIAA to date.

1 Biography & career
2 Discography
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Biography & career

[edit] Early years & rise to fame

Of Italian heritage, Jo-Dee Marie Messina was born August 25, 1970 in Framingham, Massachusetts, and grew up in nearby Holliston. When she was eight, she began singing and taking tap dancing lessons. She appeared in local plays and musicals like The Sound Of Music and Fiddler On The Roof. From an early age, she knew that she wanted to be a singer, and she never considered singing any other style of music but country.^[2]

When Jo Dee was thirteen years old, she began singing in local clubs with various bands. By the age of 16, she fronted "The Jo Dee Messina Band", which also included her sister on bass, her brother on drums, and mom, Mary. They eventually became a major part of New England's country music scene, performing up to four hours each night, six times a week.^[3] Realizing that being a country singer in the Northeast would limit her chances of making it in the industry, Messina made the move to Nashville at age 19. She found positions in accounting and computer programming, and also entered singing talent contests. She soon became a regular on a local radio show called Live at Libby's.^[4]

A producer named Byron Gallimore heard her singing on the radio, and contacted Messina about working together to secure her a recording contract. One day, while she and Gallimore were in his office choosing material for her demo, another young singer entered the office.^[5] The young singer, Tim McGraw, was struggling to make it into the business at the time. The two became close friends, and he would eventually serve as Jo Dee's co-producer along with Gallimore.^[6] Backstage at one of his concerts, Messina met an executive from his label, Curb. Producer James Stroud, who had just heard Messina's demo, signed her.^[7]

[edit] 1996 – 1999: Country success

Messina's self-titled debut album was released in 1996 and gave her two Top Ten hits in "Heads Carolina, Tails California" (number two) and "You're Not in Kansas Anymore." The album sold well.^[8] A number of business decisions nearly sank her career, placing her on the edge of bankruptcy.^[9] The other two singles from Messina's album did not reach the Billboard Country Top 40.

Messina released her second album, I'm Alright. Released in 1998, it made Messina the first female country artist to score three multiple-week number one hits from the same album: "Bye, Bye," "I'm Alright," and "Stand Beside Me."^[10] Of the album's ten tracks, five would be released as singles and make the country top ten.^[11] Messina's fourth single from her second album, "Lesson in Leavin", a cover of the 1980 No. 1 Country hit by Dottie West, peaked at No. 2 on the Hot Country Songs chart, spending seven weeks at No. 2, becoming one of the few Country songs to spend that many weeks at No. 2. One of the reasons for why the song didn't reach No. 1 was because of how many weeks, Lonestar's "Amazed" spent at No. 1.

Jo Dee Messina won the Academy of Country Music's "Top New Female Vocalist" award in 1999. That same year, she was awarded the Country Music Association's Horizon Award, became Billboard magazine's "Most Played Female at Country Radio", and won awards at the Boston Music Awards including "Act of the Year", "Outstanding Female Vocalist", and "Outstanding Country Act".^[12]

[edit] 2000 – 2004: Success in the New millennium

Messina's third album, Burn, debuted on August 1, 2000. The album entered at number one on Billboard's Country Albums chart and sold over a million copies. The first single, "That's The Way," spent four weeks at number one that September. Also included on this album was a duet with Tim McGraw, "Bring On The Rain," became Jo Dee Messina's fifth number one single early in 2002.^[13] The duet with McGraw brought Messina a Top 10 Adult Contemporary radio hit, peaking at No. 6. Messina further released two other songs in her career that would also chart on Adult Contemporary radio. In addition to headlining concerts, she also toured with Vince Gill, George Strait and The Judds' reunion tour.^[14]

Her fame also led to television roles on Touched by an Angel and Nash Bridges.^[15] She guest-starred on the series a couple of years earlier and stayed in touch with the show's producer/creator. In the episode titled "Bring On The Rain" (named after Messina's hit song), she appeared as Annie, the single mother of a teenage girl.^[16]

Messina released her first holiday album, A Joyful Noise, in October 2002.^[17]

She released a Greatest Hits album in 2003.^[18] Two new songs were included on the album that were released as Country singles, "Was That May Life" (which peaked at No. 21) and "I Wish", which was more successful, peaking at No. 15.

After a few years away, Messina returned with the single, "My Give a Damn's Busted," on her 2005 album, Delicious Surprise.^[19] The lead single went to No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart that year, and also peaked at No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100. It marked as Messina's first single since late 2003. The next three singles, ("Delicious Surprise (I Believe It)", "Not Going Down", and "It's Too Late to Worry"), all peaked in the Country Top 40, but did not reach the Country Top 20 or Top 10.

Messina's Delicious Surprise was certified "Gold" by the RIAA, after exceeding a sales of 500,000 copies. The album also peaked at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart and No. 7 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, Messina's highest-charting position on Billboard 200 to date.

Messina's 2007 single "Biker Chick", was the lead single from her upcoming CD, Unmistakable, that was originally set to drop on November 6, 2007. The single peaked at 48. After being released for only 9 weeks "Biker Chick" was later dropped as a single by Curb Records. Unmistakable, is set for release in 2008.^[20]

Messina joined NBC’s The Today Show on Friday, November 30th with a performance of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” from her Christmas album, A Joyful Noise.^[21]

Jo Dee Messina released her second single, "I'm Done" from her upcoming album, Unmistakable. She is also expected to release her new album, Unmistakable, later this year. In addition, she has reunited with manager Stuart Dill, who represented her from 1997 to 2004, and hired a new public relations company. Messina's previous album, Delicious Surprise (2005), included the No. 1 hit, "My Give a Damn's Busted." ^[22]

Curb Records recently confirmed on their website that Jo Dee Messina's next album entitled "Unmistakable" will be released Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

[edit] Personal life

In April of 2004, Messina entered a rehabilitation facility in Utah for treatment for alcoholism.^[23] She resumed touring on May 30, 2004 in Marksville, Louisiana.

Messina was involved in a relationship with road manager Don Muzquiz, and was temporarily engaged. Her engagement to him was broken in 2004.

On Oct. 21, 2007, Messina married Chris Deffenbaugh in a ceremony in Nashville. Country singer, Danielle Peck served as a bridesmaid. Chris is from Albuquerque, New Mexico and owns a company that builds custom road cases and audio equipment. Messina announced their engagement on June 22, 2007.