On This Day in 2000, Jo Dee Messina Was at No. 1 With a Song Written About the “Roller Coaster Ride” That Was Her Life

On this day (September 21) in 2000, Jo Dee Messina was on a four-week run at the top of the Hot Country Songs chart with “That’s the Way.” The single also reached No. 25 on the Hot 100, giving Messina her biggest crossover hit. More than being massively successful, it told her story. Songwriters Annie Roboff and Holly Lamar wrote the song after reading about the ups and downs Messina had weathered throughout her life and career.

Messina dominated the country charts and airwaves in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Her debut single, “Heads Carolina, Tails California,” peaked at No. 2 before becoming a certified 90s country classic. She followed that with hits like “I’m Alright,’ “Lesson in Leavin’,” and “Bye Bye.” In 1998, she won Top New Female Vocalist at the ACM Awards. The next year, she was named Most Played Country Female Artist of the Year by Billboard. When she released “That’s the Way” in 2000, she was on top of the world. Getting there wasn’t easy, though. Like anyone else, she faced personal struggles that most never saw.

Jo Dee Messina Inspired This Country Hit

Usually, songwriters work with song pluggers and publishing houses to get their songs to artists who want to record them. Sometimes, they’ll have an artist in mind for the song. That’s what makes “That’s the Way” stand out.

“This is a song that was written especially for me by Annie Roboff and Holly Lamar,” Jo Dee Messina told CMT before she debuted it at the awards show. “They said they had read about all the things I had gone through in life, where everything’s going great, then you crash, then you get back up again–just the roller coaster ride that I’ve had,” she explained.

While her story inspired the hit, Messina believed its meaning was universal. “I hope people can relate to it. Everybody’s lives are filled with ups and downs,” she said.

Featured Image by Frank Micelotta/ABC/ImageDirect

The post On This Day in 2000, Jo Dee Messina Was at No. 1 With a Song Written About the “Roller Coaster Ride” That Was Her Life appeared first on American Songwriter.