Dec. 20: Pop & R&B singer JoJo is 20 today.

JoJo was born in Brattleboro, Vermont, and raised in Keene, New Hampshire and Foxborough, Massachusetts. Her full name is Joanna Noëlle Blagden Levesque.  

During her early years, JoJo listened as her mother practice for church choir. She started singing when she was two by imitating, everything from nursery rhymes to R&B, jazz, and soul tunes. At just 6 years old, JoJo was offered a record deal, but her mother turned it down because she believed JoJo was too young for a music career

At age 7, JoJo appeared on the television show Kids Say the Darnedest Things: On the Road in Boston with Bill Cosby and sang a song by Cher.

For the television show Destination Stardom, JoJo sang Aretha Franklin's 1967 hit "Respect" & Chain of Fools. Soon after, The Oprah Winfrey Show invited her on her show, and performed on one of the frequent "kids-with-talent" episodes of Maury Povich's show.

After competing on the television show, America's Most Talented Kids, record producer Vincent Herbert took notice who asked her to audition for Blackground Records.

JoJo's self-titled debut album was released in June 2004 and has sold over 3 million copies worldwide. The first single off of the album, "Leave (Get Out)", was released in February 2004. It peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was certified gold by the RIAA.

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JoJo's second album, The High Road, was released in October 2006, and has sold over 2 million copies worldwide. The album's lead single, "Too Little Too Late," was released in August 2006 and reached number three on Billboard Hot 100. The single was certified platinum.

Jo-Jo's first mixtape, Can't Take That Away from Me, was released exclusively to Rap-Up on September 7, 2010. The mixtape is a prelude to her upcoming third studio album All I Want Is Everything, which is scheduled for an early 2011 release through Blackground and Interscope Records. The first single from the Mixtape was "In the Dark" was released exclusively to Rap-up.com on August 30, 2010.

JoJo is also an actress. Her first television appearance was on The Bernie Mac Show. In 2006 she appeared in two Hollywood films, Aquamarine, and RV.

She has hosted the Ultimate Prom, and appeared in the movie True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet which earned her a nomination at the Poptastic Awards.

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