Katy Sprinkel - Dream Crazy Big: The JoJo Siwa Story

Contents

1. Girls Just Want to Have Fun

For as long as she can remember, JoJo Siwa wanted to be a pop star.

And at the age of 16, JoJo has already achieved a level of fame most performers will never come close to reaching. She first became a household name at age nine, when she was a featured dancer on Abbys Ultimate Dance Competition , performing for the notoriously demanding Abby Lee Miller. She continued on with Miller on Dance Moms before following her own star onward.

As a YouTuber, JoJo gained a generation of new fans who eagerly awaited her lighthearted and high-energy posts. Her unpredictability and excitability catapulted her into megastardom on the site (she has more than 10 million subscribers as of this writing). That in turn caught the attention of Nickelodeon, who signed the star to a deal with the network.

But JoJos on-screen achievements are only part of the picture. Shes an emerging recording artistBoomerang is RIAA certified platinum, and its music video has more than 743 million YouTube views at last count. And shes a master merchandiser too. Youll find JoJos products everywhere from department stores to grocery stores to e-tailers.

Smiling like a kid in a candy store during a 2019 tour stop.

JoJo is also a passionate voice against bullying. Her iconic hair bows telegraph that principle: anyone who wears a JoJo bow will not tolerate bullying, period. Its a powerful message that has made the bows, and JoJo, a giant success story.

The sky is the limit for JoJo, who seems to have the Midas touch whenever she turns her attention to a new project. And Siwanatorzthe self-dubbed name of her legion of fanscant wait to see what comes next.

To trace JoJos incredible rise to fame, its important to begin at the beginning. It was May 19, 2003, when parents Tom and Jessalynn and older brother Jayden welcomed a little girl, Joelle Joanie Siwa, into the world. A far cry from Hollywood, the Siwa family lived in Omaha, Nebraska. Tom was a practicing chiropractor and Jessalynn owned her own dance school.

With her dog BowBow in 2018.

In a sense, JoJo was born into show business naturally. She spent long hours in her moms dance studio watching the other kids perfect their routines. She saw firsthand how much work went into achieving excellence as a dancer, the time and commitment required. She understood innately that not everyone has what it takes to be a success, that its one thing to have a dream and another to chase after it with all you have.

She also got a head start most dancers could only dream of: full-time access to a dance instructor (thats you, Mom) and studio space. When my husband would come pick her up at the [dance] studio, she would not want to leave at night, Jessalynn told Rolling Stone in a 2019 interview. At home, JoJo would pirouette around the kitchen while her mom cooked her mac and cheese. Her reputation as a dancer preceded her even then; her proud parents would drag her out of bed occasionally to perform dances at houseguests behest.

Little wonder, then, that she was onstage in front of audiences from a very early age. At one and a half, JoJo was included in Jessalynns student showcases. Shed perform what her mom calls the hottie dance while Jessalynn rained down glitter on her. JoJo performed her first solo dance at age two, still in diapers, at the prestigious Kids Artistic Revue. It was a precocious routine set to Hairspray s Mama, Im a Big Girl Now. Its easy to see the spark of joy in JoJo in even that early performance. Dont believe it? That first solo dance lives on 24/7 on JoJos YouTube channel, ItsJoJoSiwa. (Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrjHrbV8u3k for the mega-cuteness!)

JoJo often calls her mom her best friend.

Its a family affair for the Siwas, in attendance at JoJos 16th birthday party.

JoJo often says that as early as she can remember, she wanted to be a star. I was three years old and I saw Hannah Montana . I was like, I want to be Hannah Montana, she confessed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2019. And everyone wants to be Hannah Montana, she continued, but I was like, Really, I want to do this. And she set out to do just that.

But that didnt mean JoJo spent all her time practicing. She still found time to be a normal kid. Summers in Nebraska were spent grilling out, swimming in the backyard with her brother, and competing with her family in games and water-gun fights. She loved movies, her dogs, and crafting.

Grabbing a quick selfie on the red carpet in 2016.

My parents were all about family values and making sure we stay grounded, JoJo wrote in her autobiography, JoJos Guide to the Sweet Life . That meant lots of family time, and those early days in Omaha were filled with music, laughter, and fun. They loved to tease each other and play practical jokes (still do, as JoJos YouTube followers know all too well).

With a strong support system, incredible work ethic, and the fire to succeed, a young JoJo was poised for big things. Little did she know that opportunity would knock so early

I feel like every day is my wedding day, says Jessalynn about JoJos overwhelming success.

Did You Know?

Dance really runs in the family. Jessalynns parents were ballroom dance instructors.

Fun Fact

Long before they were known as JoJo bows, JoJo and her mom made her distinctive hair bows themselves.

The Stars Shine Bright in Omaha

JoJos not the only boldfaced name to hail from Nebraskas biggest city. Omaha is the hometown of everyone from Hollywood royalty such as Marlon Brando and the Fonda family to political titans such as former US president Gerald Ford and Malcolm X. The Oracle of Omaha, billionaire Warren Buffett, calls Omaha home. Musicians including Bright Eyes Conor Oberst, singer-songwriter Elliott Smith, and the band 311 all hail from Omaha. Its spawned funny people toosuch as actor and comedian Adam Devine and filmmaker Alexander Payne, just to name a couple. And is it any coincidence that one of the most famous dancers of all time, Fred Astaire, was an Omahan?