Holliston’s Jo Dee Messina Celebrates 23 Years Of “I’m Alright.”
This week in 1998 brought our hometown country girl, Jo Dee Messina, her 2nd #1 hit!
“I’m Alright” was the 2nd consecutive #1 for Jo Dee, and her 2nd hit written by Phil Vassar (“Bye Bye” was the first).
The video depicted the fiery red head as a little girl, already filled with drive and passion, and a fast-forward to her encounter with an old friend. She relays that despite things being a little tough in her journey, she is doing alright.
Jo Dee was born in Framingham and raised in Holliston by her parents, Vincent and Mary. They always supported her dream of being a singer, and often drove her to late night gigs around New England, as a teenager. Messina made the move to Nashville when she was just 19 years old. One of her first friends was Tim McGraw. They made a pact that whoever made it first in the business would help the other one. Tim got signed first to Curb Records, and Jo Dee followed shortly thereafter.
Jo Dee is undoubtedly the biggest country star to come from Massachusetts. Messina has amassed 6 #1 hits and various awards from the CMA, ACM, Boston Music Awards and 2 Grammy Nominations. Our hometown pride and joy has also scored 2 platinum and 3 gold albums!
Fun fact: In her first hit, “Heads Carolina, Tails California,” Jo Dee changed the lyric from “I got people in Austin,” to “I got people in Boston.”
One of the hardest working people in the biz, Jo Dee is still at it…out there killin’ it on stage!
