Jo Dee Messina grew up in New England, but moved to Nashville at age 19, where she won local talent shows and later signed to Curb Records in 1994. Her self-titled 1996 debut album, produced by Tim McGraw, became a huge hit upon its release, positioning Messina to become one of the top female country singers of the late '90s.

Success continued with her 1998 sophomore release, which spawned three singles which hit #1 on the country music charts: "I'm Alright," "Bye Bye" and "Stand Beside Me." The next year, Messina won the Country Music Association's Horizon Award, and was a nominee in 2000 for the CMA's "Female Vocalist Of The Year" honors.

In 1999, Jo Dee had guest roles on Nash Bridges and Touched by an Angel.

Messina's third release, Burn, became a huge hit in 2000, spawning two #1's ("That's the Way" & "Bring on the Rain") and two other top 10 hits ("Burn" [#2] and "Downtime" [#5]).

In 2002, Jo Dee became engaged and made her second appearance on the TV series Touched by an Angel.

On October 29, 2002, Jo Dee released her fourth CD, a Christmas release, A Joyful Noise.

Jo Dee's long awaited new album, Delicious Surprise, was released in 2003 -- after Curb Records pulled a surprise move and compiled a greatest hits album to be released prior to the new CD.


~*~

*first two paragraphs of biography taken from RollingStone.com.