JoJo is giving Us an inside look at what it’s like to be on her Too Much to Say Tour.
“My pre-show ritual starts in the morning actually, where it’s a coffee, then it’s probably a workout class,” the singer, 34, exclusively reveals in the latest issue of Us Weekly. “I want to sweat, I want to get my heart rate up. Then I’ll get to the venue, I’ll sound check.”
JoJo kicked off her Too Much to Say Tour on February 22 in Nashville. She’ll be making stops in Houston, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago and Atlanta before wrapping up in New York City. The tour coincides with her latest EP NGL which dropped last month.
“This is my first independent release and this album was so about being single and moving to a new city and feeling strong and really feeling more comfortable and confident in my own skin than I ever had before. So that’s what it’s about,” she says of her new music. “And just having fun, not taking things as seriously as I’ve taken them before. It’s not life or death. There’s serious things going on in the world and music does not need to be one of them for me right now.”
In addition to new music, JoJo published a memoir titled Over The Influence which hit shelves in September 2024.
Keep scrolling to learn some of JoJo’s behind-the-scenes secrets while on the road:
Pre-Show Ritual
While JoJo will start her show days with a coffee and workout in the morning, she has a specific routine once she arrives at the venue.
“I’ll start doing my warmups and doing my makeup and stuff. And I like to take my time. I do not like to be rushed,” she tells Us. “I rushed so much when I was younger and I’ve learned that I hate that feeling, so I just really chill.”
As JoJo relaxes, she listens to some music by some “great singers” like Jasmine Sullivan, Cynthia Erivo, Whitney Houston, Anita Baker and Chaka Khan.
“Just be inspired by their vocal excellency and that gets me in the zone,” she says of the talent on her playlist.
Before JoJo takes the stage, she also likes to do a “voice warmup” that she learned from one of her teachers she’s “worked with over the past few years.”
Her Must-Haves
“My tour rider is fruit. Pineapple is my favorite,” she tells Us. “The enzymes in it are really good for if you have mucus, but I tend to not struggle with that anymore because I follow an anti-inflammatory diet while I’m on tour because mucus is the enemy for a singer.”
In addition to pineapple, JoJo also opts for berries, coffee, local honey and Evian water. However, the “Too Little Too Late” singer is “trying to move away from plastics and do refillable water bottles” instead.
Along with her snacks, JoJo also needs a “delicious smelling candle.”
“It depends on just what kind of vibe I’m in. I typically travel with my own candle and then I’ll just bring it,” she says. “So that can be the thing that is cohesive from city to city.”
Favorite Song to Play
“It changes, but right now I really love performing a song called ‘Dissolve.’”
Embarrassing Moment
“I gave a strip tease on one of my tours and I look back on it and I want to die a little,” she recalls. “But I also have to accept that that’s just what I wanted to do at that time.”
JoJo shared that she “would bring somebody up on stage” at every show and mount them.
“It wasn’t a sexual excitement for sure. So I think that was even better thought,” she says .”We would choose a different person in the audience every night, and I’m just like, ‘Why did I do that? It was not sexy.’”
Strangest Autograph Request
“I think I blocked out the truly weird things that people have asked me to sign because I have been doing this a long time,” she confesses. “When weird things happen, it’s like I don’t know where they go because I cannot recall them. But certainly, I’ve signed many a titty in my day. I’ve signed faces … I listen and I don’t judge.”
Joanna “JoJo” Levesque does not have any “regrets” after releasing her tell-all memoir, Over the Influence. “I did get cussed out in the street by an ex,” JoJo, 34, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting her new EP, NGL. “He didn’t like the way that I … I don’t know. We didn’t even talk about […]
Pre-Show Nerves
“I get nervous all the time before I go on stage. And actually, I recently had a couple sessions with a sports psychologist who helps athletes get in the zone and be able to perform under pressure,” she explains. “I met him through a friend of mine who’s starring in a Broadway show right now, and they’re giving just the most earth shattering performance every night.”
JoJo shares that she asked her friend how they were able to get to that “point” which led to her getting in touch with the therapist.
“I think what I try to do is get out of my own way, stop thinking about myself and think about how I can be of service to what an audience member, a fan, a community member might need from me,” she tells Us. “What do they need me to embody in this song? How can I be a vessel for what the moment is calling for? And that sounds corny, but I am a spiritual person and that’s what makes me feel better.”
Favorite Tour Souvenir
“I picked up tattoos along my tours and my travels,” she says. “I have this beautiful New Zealand Maori tattoo that was gifted to me from an artist there, and he freehanded it and told a story of everybody who’s been a part of my life and even those people who are no longer here in the physical world and how it’s all contributed to who I am today. And so that’s something that I definitely take with me everywhere.”
After-Show Unwinding
“I love these adaptogenic drinks that don’t have alcohol in them, but it’ll be like a different, chill type of stuff,” she reveals. “I want to feel chilled out.”
In addition to having a good beverage, JoJo will pair it with a meal before heading off to bed.
For more on JoJo watch the video above and pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly on newsstands now.
