Joelle Joanie "JoJo" Siwa was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 19, 2003, to Jessalynn Siwa (née Lombardi), a professional dance instructor from Iowa, and Tom Siwa, a chiropractor from Nebraska. From 2015 to 2016, she appeared as a dancer on two seasons of the reality television show Dance Moms alongside her mother. She was included on Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2020. In 2024, she initiated her post-Nickelodeon career with the extended play Guilty Pleasure, led by the single "Karma"