Singer JoJo is well known by many people throughout the world. She rose to stardom in the sixties, with hits like Honeymoon, Here Lies A Rose, Wonderful Tonight, I’m a Believer, Beautiful Tonight, and You’ll Never Walk Alone. JoJo was also a very accomplished actress in the seventies, having notable parts in such movies as My Fair Lady, Swing Vote, Ordinary Joe, Blowin’ In The Wind, and Get Easy. Singer JoJo is perhaps best known for her role as Gloria Estefan in the movie Irene.
Joanna Noëlle Levesque (and romantica in English) was born in 1887 in Boston, Massachusetts. Her stage name was JoJo, while her real name was Nancy Smith. She was a talented singer-actor-writer-activist, and became an associate of folklorists, educators, and writers Allen Ginsberg and John Lennon.
Joanna was married twice, first to an English musician named Richard Parks, who had come to live in New York City and later moved to London. Parks died in a train accident, while on tour with John Lennon. The second marriage was to another English singer, Paul Cook. Joanna and Paul had four children, and they divorced in nineteen ninety-one.
The first of her four children was born in December of that year. Her second child was born in January, followed by a baby boy in March. A few months later, JoJo celebrated her ninth wedding anniversary with her husband. Her nine-year old son was in attendance at the brattleboro concert where her son met their father for the first time. JoJo had made several recorded songs during her years as a member of The Brattleboro Revival, but this would be her first appearance on a US chart-topping hit.
JoJo’s career continued at a rapid pace, as she wrote several more songs for several recording artists, including Don Williams, Jack Wilkins, Percy Sledge, Johnny Jenkins, and Herb Ellis. Her role in the seventies and eighties was mainly as a talent manager for singers such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, and Dorsey Brothers’ Mary Martin. She also appeared in several movies, including Butch Kelly, Charlie Brown, and Grease. She was nominated for an Academy Award for the best actress in that category for her work in Butch Kelly. JoJo was so talented that even after her years of breaking into the acting career, she retained her love of music.
JoJo still performs to the present day, playing live shows for both her fans and other people around the world. Her strange adventure in the acting business continues today, where she tours with her all-girl band, called The Llewellyntones. Her strange journey has left many fans around the world, wishing to meet her, or at least meet her face. Her new album will surely be a weird and wonderful journey for JoJo fans around the world.
