08/25/00 courtesy of  "Abbey" abluvmus@earthlink.net from countryqueens@egroups.com
JO DEE MESSINA TURNS 30 TODAY!
With her Burn album just being certified gold and her new single, "That's The Way," nearing #1 on the country charts, Jo Dee Messina celebrates her 30th birthday today. In Nashville on a rare day off, Jo Dee is spending her special day close to family. Not one to sit for long, tonight, she gets back on the tour bus and hits the road for a show at the Du Quoin State Fair in Illinois. The week after next, Jo Dee will be boarding a plane headed straight for Switzerland, where she will play at the Gstaad Festival for two days. When Jo Dee gets back in the states, she maintains her tour schedule without missing a beat. (T-100)
 

08/23/00 courtesy of  "Abbey" abluvmus@earthlink.net from countryqueens@egroups.com
SHE HAS TO CALL HER MOM
Less than three weeks after its release, Jo Dee Messina's "Burn" went gold, signifying sales of 500,000 copies. For Billboard's Most Played Country Female of 1999, the news was a surprise. "Oh, my God! I have to call my Mom," said Messina in a press release upon hearing the news. "She won't believe this, either! We worked so hard on the record, just getting it released seemed like crossing the finish line. I can't believe this; are you sure?" Ironically, there were more copies of "Burn" - again produced by Tim McGraw and Byron Gallimore - sold in its first week than the entire initial shipment of I'm Alright," which has now sold 2 million copies. Messina is finishing up her headlining shows before taking some time off and gearing up for her first major national headlining tour in 2001. (Country Standard Time)

08/23/00 courtesy of  "Abbey" abluvmus@earthlink.net from countryqueens@egroups.com
MESSINA HEADED FOR BIG USA TODAY PROFILE
In addition to her AOL Chat last night, earlier in the day Jo Dee Messina did a major photo shoot for an upcoming profile in USA Today. The paper's angle is to cover Messina's continued rise over the last two years of her greatest successes. "I'm honored that they've been watching me," says Messina, "and also that we're doing a story," Messina said. (Nashville Update)
 

08/10/00 courtesy of  "Abbey" abluvmus@earthlink.net from countryqueens@egroups.com
MESSINA RECEIVES HEROES WELCOME BACK HOME
Jo Dee Messina made a triumphant return home when she performed in the Boston area last Saturday. The Boston Herald gave her glowing reviews. But they made one comment that really boded well for her new album BURN. "  Although the sassy redhead's third album, Burn, had been released only four days prior to the show, many in the crowd already seemed familiar with its optimistic songs about the power of hope and the necessity of dreams," the paper noted. (Nashville Update)

08/10/00 courtesy of  "Abbey" abluvmus@earthlink.net from countryqueens@egroups.com
JO DEE MESSINA'S "BURN" IS THE #1 ALBUM
Jo Dee Messina has hit another milestone. According to Curb Records, Jo Dee's Burn album, released on August 1, debuted on Billboard's Country Album chart at #1. This is a career first for Jo Dee, whose latest single, "That's The Way," graces the top 5 this week. Jo Dee received the good news about Burn Tuesday night on a three-way call with record company executives. "I can't jump up and down," said Jo Dee, "because I have to see it in writing to believe it." The new CD was also recently singled out by People magazine as their "Album of the Week." (T-100)
 

08/9/00 courtesy of  "Jason" andersonj@pop.belmont.edu 
I got the sales stats in for "Burn" and it sold 61,000 units it's first week, placing it at #19 on the overall album chart, the Billboard Top 200.
Jason

08/9/00 courtesy of   News@JoDeeMessina.com  
Jo Dee Burns To #1!
Double Platinum Country Firebrand Notches Billboard Top Album Debut As "That's The Way" Sails Into The Top 5 --

Nashville: Jo Dee Messina, the reigning Country Music Association Horizon Award winner for greatest career growth over the prior year, continues blazing new professional
trails. With "That's The Way," the lead single from her third Curb album hitting the Top 5 with a bullet, Messina scores yet another first in a career of firsts: a #1 debut on Billboard's Country Album chart with Burn.

Produced by Byron Gallimore and Tim McGraw, Burn follows Messina's hugely successful double-platinum-plus  I'm Alright. Already singled out by People as their Album of the Week, where critic Ralph Novak proclaimed the redheaded dervish "the first of the new red hot mamas," Burn features two songs written specifically about
Messina's life and her ability to find the good in the difficult, a breathtaking duet with Tim McGraw and the Tina Arena-penned title track.

The Holliston, Massachusetts-born and -raised songstress received the good news about Burn last night on a three-way call with Curb Nashville sales and marketing
executives Dennis Hannon and Benson Curb. In typically modest fashion, Messina was both thrilled and overwhelmed by the news.

"I can't jump up and down," she exclaimed, "because I have to see it in writing to believe it."

"Well," countered Curb's Hannon happily for the artist he's watched evolve over the past five years, "then jump on one leg until we can FAX you the numbers in the morning."

With a rigorous touring schedule that has seen the performing dynamo on the road as part of the 1999 George Strait Country Festival Tour and the only guest on the Judds' heavily anticipated Power To Change Reunion Tour, Messina has spent a good chunk of the last two years taking her music to the people who matter most to her: fans of country music. Along the way, they've responded to her strong woman brand of country by not only buying over two million copies of I'm Alright, but by making her Billboard's Most Played Female in Country Music.

Messina, the first woman to have three consecutive multiple week #1s on the Billboard chart, knows what people want to hear -- placing four songs in the Top 10 Most Played Songs of the past two years. They are: 1998's #2 "I'm Alright," 1999's #3 "Lesson In Leavin'," 1998's #4 "Bye, Bye" and 1999's #7 "Stand Beside Me." And with "That's The Way" moving at light speed, Messina's chart-topping sensibility seems to be continuing.

Fresh from a CMT: Country Music Television "All Access" concert special, and a radio listening premiere that cleared over 754 radio stations around the world, Messina
is just getting started. As she urges listeners who are standing on the brink of their dreams: she wants you to burn. And Jo Dee Messina is a young lady who has always
taken her own advice.
 

08/08/00 courtesy of  "Abbey" abluvmus@earthlink.net from countryqueens@egroups.com
JO DEE'S ENGAGEMENT RING
Since her engagement in May, Jo Dee Messina has been walking around with a huge grin on her face. Jo Dee has also been out and about with a large rock on her finger. "The stone was picked off of a necklace and we didn't realize what it would look like on a ring," says Jo Dee. "It is beautiful though." The stunning ring has a gold band with platinum prongs to hold the 5.3 carrot diamond in place. The first thing you notice when seeing the ring is
how big it is. However, aside from clanging it on her treadmill, it doesn't really get in Jo Dee's way much. Jo Dee and Don (Muzquiz) are planning a long engagement and as we reported earlier, have not yet set a wedding date.
(T-100)