Jo Dee Messina Artistfacts

August 25, 1970
For those who like their country music energetic and optimistic, there's Jo Dee Messina. She told Songfacts that "Life Is Good," her song from 2005, is her general outlook. "I get up, I get to see the day, put my feet on the ground, and just a chance to get to live through the day or see another day, that's a blessing, and I'm just really grateful," she said.
Messina was born and raised in Massachusetts - not exactly a country music hotspot. She moved to Nashville in 1989 when she was 19, and spent the next several years trying to get noticed while working temp jobs to pay the bills. Through a talent contest she got some exposure that led to a record deal, and in 1996 she released her self-titled debut album.
She got married in 2007 and had two sons, Noah (born 2009) and Jonah (born 2012), but she and her husband split up sometime around 2018.
Jo Dee Messina found a fresh crop of fans in 2022 when Cole Swindell had a hit with "She Had Me At Heads Carolina," which references Messina's 1996 song "Heads Carolina, Tails California." Messina appears in the video for that song (playing the bartender), and she joined Swindell to perform mash-ups of their two songs at both the 2022 CMA Awards and the 2023 ACM Awards.
Most of her early songs were written by outside writers, but she did more songwriting as her career progressed. On her 2026 album Bridges she wrote or co-wrote all but one song.
She has a bit of a grude against the group Lonestar because their song "Amazed" kept Messina's "Lesson in Leavin'" out of the #1 spot on the Country chart for eight weeks. "There's a little scab on my soul from that one!" she told American Songwriter.
In 2017 Messina revealed that she had been diagnosed with cancer. She hasn't offered details, but has said it took a huge financial and emotional toll on her. She credits her faith in God for helping her get through it.
Messina is deeply religious, and in 2024 she launched a ministry called Broom Tree Haven. "The main purpose of the ministry is to create a safe place of respite and peace for those who are going through what I call 'the crush,'" she said on the Off The Record Podcast. "People are like, 'I got to take a break. It's all moving way too fast.' To create a safe space for them to come and just be at peace and shut off from the world. And in that peace, I pray that they hear from the Holy Spirit to move them towards the Lord."

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