Lucky patrons at BOOM on Thursday night caught a surprise performance by singer JoJo. The Grammy Award Winning artist took the stage – uh, I mean, bar top – to belt some of her classic hits in an effort to kick off New York City Pride. The photos I’ve seen from the event warm my cold dead heart because there is so much love for the film and Broadway actress, and it’s beyond deserving when considering the battles she faced to reach this kind of stardom. She’s having fun and thriving, not just surviving. And that’s a story we can all relate to.
I was just 15-years-old when JoJo placed second on America’s Most Talented Kids in 2003, and then I was 17-years-old when her first single, Leave (Get Out), reached the Billboard Top 20. I vividly remember driving my beat up, black Hyundai across the high school perimeter screaming for my friends to get in the car while blocking traffic in all directions. And I wonder how I bought all the lies, you said that you would treat me right, but you was just a waste of time – we sang like any of us had been in anything remotely close to a serious relationship.
@rollingstone @iamjojoofficial helped kick off Pride Weekend at The Standard Highline singing “Too Little, Too Late” on top of the bar. #jojo #pridenyc🏳️🌈 #littletoolate #diesel #tinder
I also remember driving around with a different set of friends singing along to How to Touch a Girl, and honestly, I didn’t! Somehow, at that time, no one knew that I was gay. However, I didn’t need to desire the opposite sex to know that JoJo was/is talented, charismatic, beautiful and peacefully powerful. It’s no surprise to anyone who knows her legacy that she holds the record as being the youngest singer to have a #1 on Billboard or that she’s a New York Times Best Seller thanks to her memoir Over the Influence. But we need to discuss another crucial accolade.
JoJo’s bar top performance at BOOM technically counts as a Pride concert. She’s also performed at Savannah Pride, Miami Beach Pride and many others in the past. Is this, all of this, enough to give her the title as a gay icon? Sure, there are a lot of gay icons out there, but it puts female superstars into a hierarchy of their very own. And the distinguished position is one that cannot and will not evaporate with the test of time. From playing the president of the Gay Straight Alliance in G.B.F. to her COVID jingle Stay In (Right Now), she’s given a lot to humanity or just pop culture in general.
To her credit, JoJo has two platinum certified albums and a gold certified mixtape. Her other hits include Baby It’s You (#22), Too Little Too Late (#3) and Disaster (#87). She won a Grammy in 2020 with PJ Morton on his track Say So. She has a string of hit movies under her belt including Aquamarine and RV. She came in second on The Masked Singer in 2021 and starred as Satine in Moulin Rouge! The Musical. In the past, she’s even written for big acts like Tori Kelly, All Time Low and The Jonas Brothers. There’s really no stopping her at this point.
Is JoJo a Gay Icon?
I would say yes solely based on her contribution to music. While her early works are absolutely iconic, her most recent records on Atlantic or Clover are just another level of R&B realness. I listen to most of her tracks, especially Mad Love, with an ugly face – and that’s the kind of face you make when the music is hitting you. But again, it’s warming my heart to see JoJo getting her flowers from fans more than two decades later. It’s a trend that I think is going to continue and ultimately culminate in something much bigger in a few years.
Sound off in the comments and let me know if you think JoJo is a gay icon.
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