Anyone who thinks 33 is too young to write a memoir should just pick up a copy of Over the Influence by Joanna “JoJo” Levesque. The singer-songwriter has lived a lot of life since her debut single, “Leave (Get Out),” dropped 20 years ago. And when she decided to lay it all out in unsparing detail across 300-plus pages, Levesque even surprised herself with how candid she got.
“Human beings are designed to share and connect and relate, and I realized how many stories I had held close to the chest and people I’d protected out of fear or shame for so long,” she tells Vogue. “I withheld names or gave out a couple aliases so as not to be salacious, while still sharing my truth. But that first draft that only I saw, though….”
For anyone who came of age in the early aughts, when Levesque first broke out, the book teems with nostalgic touchpoints. She details how badly she didn’t want “Leave (Get Out)” to be her debut single, calling the hit “some Disney Channel shit.” She also recounts the time she co-hosted Total Request Live and had a nasty experience with an unnamed pop diva (who may or may not be C*ristina A*uilera...).
So, too, does Levesque examine her complicated relationship with her parents and her struggles with alcohol addiction and substance abuse. Reading through the various personal and professional hurdles she’s had to navigate—her former record label blocking the release of any new music for over a decade, the death of her father from an opioid overdose, one romantic betrayal after another—it’s clear how lucky Levesque feels to still be here, releasing music. The memoir, as well as her stunning new single “Porcelain,” are both testaments to her uncommon resilience—and her refusal to let anyone dictate how she uses her one-of-a-kind voice.
“Revisiting some devastating moments that I had compartmentalized actually felt cathartic and necessary. I didn’t realize how much I had tried to avoid feeling,” Levesque reflects. “Pretty much all my fears, insecurities, and shortcomings are now out there, so they now have no more power.”
To celebrate the release of Over the Influence, Levesque took six days off from her starring role in Moulin Rouge! The Musical on Broadway to stop by six bookstores across the country—and shared some exclusive snaps with Vogue from her life on the road.
Photo: Courtesy of JoJo1/16Final glam for NY press day (shout-out to my girls Akilah and Clarissa!).
Photo: Courtesy of JoJo2/16Alyson Stoner was the most amazing moderator for the LA book event. Grateful for their friendship and support while writing it.
Photo: Courtesy of JoJo3/16Can’t quantify just how much time I spent in Barnes & Nobles as a kid. The fact that a book that I wrote is now on their shelves is crazy to me!
Photo: Courtesy of JoJo4/16Celebrating with a surprise cake after the LA book signing (thanks Reinaldo & Vinny!).
Photo: Courtesy of JoJo5/16I was in LA for 24 hours and I made the most of it! Went straight to the studio after the LA book event. Jumped on a redeye a few hours later to get to Raleigh!
Photo: Courtesy of JoJo6/16With my brother Theron “Neff-U” Feemster in the studio, recording a piano/ballad version of my new song “Porcelain.”
Photo: Courtesy of JoJo7/16The first 50 fans to receive a copy of Over the Influence, a day before its release, in my home state of Massachusetts! We kicked off the book tour at a woman-owned book store called All She Wrote in Somerville.
Photo: Courtesy of JoJo8/16At the meet-and-greet for the New York City book event. So grateful to the most iconic bookstore, The Strand, for hosting.
Photo: Courtesy of JoJo9/16Loved wearing my friends’ creations on this tour: Secondhand futbol jerseys that have been reworked into one of one by Delikate Rayne Revival.
Photo: Courtesy of JoJo10/16I did my own makeup in San Francisco and found someone amazing for hair after asking IG Stories for a recommendation.
Photo: Courtesy of JoJo11/16Trying to find the light in San Fran.
Photo: Courtesy of JoJo12/16Walking the streets of San Fran ahead of the book signing.
Photo: Courtesy of JoJo13/16Heading from Manhattan to Northvale, New Jersey, for our second book signing of the week at Books & Greetings.
Photo: Courtesy of JoJo14/16Looking out for the Uber after doing a virtual book signing and some press at my book publisher’s office.
Photo: Courtesy of JoJo15/16Taking it all in before the book event at The Strand (NYC).
Photo: Courtesy of JoJo16/16Matt Rogers was the perfect host for our NYC book event at The Strand. After our Las Culturistas episode a couple weeks earlier, any suspicion of my obsession with him (and Bowen Yang) was confirmed.
