For Joanna “JoJo” Levesque, the idea to write a memoir about her life and journey in the music world was first sparked by a meaningful career milestone.
“This year is 20 years since I started in the music industry,” she told Access Hollywood guest correspondent Emily Orozco in an exclusive interview at her New York City home. “I put out my first single [‘Leave (Get Out)’ at 13, and with that big milestone coming up, I wanted to start to make sense of what the hell has been happening in my life.”
“I spent so much time being so confused and struggling with depression and anxiety and just really feeling so lost and alone for a lot of my life – mostly in my teens and 20s,” the musician continued. “I wanted to start putting it on paper and seeing if, first of all, I could understand myself and my life a little bit more, and if there might be things that I could share with other people – particularly younger people who might be interested in the music industry or want to get involved, and not deal with some of the things that dealt with professionally and personally.”
Out of those reflections came “Over the Influence: A Memoir,” which hit shelves on Sept. 17.
In the book, Joanna candidly sheds light on her entire personal and professional journey, from “growing up in a broken home to being raised by a broken music industry, to tales from her darkest ten years, when a marathon lawsuit with her music label prompted a period of proper rebellion, complete with drugs, drinking, sex, and complicated relationships,” according to its synopsis.
The singer also writes about how she overcame those hurdles and forged a path forward, and she shared that she hopes readers to take away something meaningful from her story.
“I’m excited for the conversations that I hope will be sparked from my fans and my community reading this book, and also people outside of it,” she said. “I hope that people who don’t know who I am, don’t care about me, read this as well. [It’s] a story about redemption and about pivoting, and about, ‘You think your life is over?’ Or, ‘you think this is the worst thing in the world?’ It’s not over until you give up.”
“Over the Influence: A Memoir” is out now.