jo dee messina

Alex Preston is one of 12 remaining singers on this 13th season of 'American Idol.' He hasn't shown country aspirations, but he's connected to Nashville. Preston is Jo Dee Messina's cousin -- and she is a superfan through and through.

Jo Dee Messina has always been the kind of country singer who tells it like it is. And that's exactly what the 'My Give a Damn's Busted' hitmaker did when she went public with the information that she's in talks with 'Dancing With the Stars.'

Jo Dee Messina's stage manager was killed outside his Tennessee home in November 2012. Now, authorities in Florida have arrested his fiancee. Connie Sanders King was found covered in blood outside the home after the shootings. She is facing first-degree murder charges.

Country singers everywhere should be might envious of Jo Dee Messina's dedicated fanbase right about now. Seeking an influx of capital to release a new record, Messina launched a Kickstarter project to raise $100,000 in 30 days. Her fans answered the call -- and then some.

Everyone knows that Jo Dee Messina is one of those fiercely independent, tell-it-like-it-is country music stars. But it's hard to believe that Messina has never had the chance to make an album the way she really wants it to be. Now, after 18 years in the industry, Messina hopes to finally have that chance.

Jo Dee Messina took to her social media accounts this morning (April 19) to ask fans to pray for the people in Watertown, Mass., where police are conducting a manhunt for the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings earlier this week -- and where she has family.

The world of country music isn't always cowboy boots, glitzy dresses, and red carpet events; in fact, sometimes the entertainment industry can be downright scary. Jo Dee Messina knows that firsthand, as the man suspected of murdering her stage manager in November was just arrested.

Jo Dee Messina and Alyssa Bonagura enlisted fans to help them make the video for the song 'Unbreakable.' Messina invited her Twitter followers to take pictures of themselves holding signs with words on them, like the song title, "stronger," "believe," "get along" and more, written in all sorts of fonts and with artistic embellishments, like the "t" in strong

It’s not clear what exactly happened when Jo Dee Messina and Chris Young came face to face recently, but it definitely left a bad taste in the ‘My Give a Damn’s Busted’ hitmaker’s mouth. Messina took to her Twitter page early Tuesday morning (July 24) to let her 42,000 followers know that she was less than impressed by rising country music star Chris Young.