By Megan Riedlinger
7:22am PDT, Sep 4, 2022
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Getting a song on the charts is an impressive feat. But when a child or a teen does it? That's even more remarkable! Join Wonderwall.com as we check in with some of your favorite former child music stars to find out what they're up to (and look like) today… LeAnn Rimes — who turned 40 on Aug. 28, 2022 — made it big at the tender age of 13 back in 1996 with her cover of "Blue." She took the country music world by storm before eventually transitioning to pop later in the '90s, scoring one of the bestselling singles of the decade with "How Do I Live."
Keep reading to find out where LeAnn and other talented former child music stars ended up…
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After making it in the pop world as well, LeAnn Rimes tried her hand at acting. But her most notable role, unfortunately, wasn't due to her talent: LeAnn starred in the 2009 Lifetime movie "Northern Lights" and made headlines when it was revealed she'd had an affair with her co-star, Eddie Cibrian, while she was married to dancer-turned-chef Dean Sheremet and Eddie was married to model-turned-Bravo star Brandi Glanville. LeAnn and Eddie ended their marriages and wed in 2011. She wrote about the drama on her 2013 album, "Spitfire," while continuing to make music and perform live and in 2014, she and her husband starred on a VH1 reality TV show about their lives. LeAnn, who continues to act, tour and raise awareness of the autoimmune disease psoriasis, most recently starred in the 2018 Hallmark movie "It's Christmas, Eve" and on the 2021 Netflix series "Country Comfort." Her latest album, "god's work," drops in September 2022.
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Lil Bow Wow, born Shad Moss, was discovered by Snoop Dogg in the late '90s and released his first album when he was 13. He went on to release four albums by 18 and carved out an acting career for himself in the '00s with roles in films like "Johnson Family Vacation" and "Roll Bounce" and had a recurring role in the "Fast & Furious" franchise.
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Bow Wow eventually dropped the "Lil" from his name and announced his retirement from rap in 2016 — a year before his 30th birthday. He competed on "The Masked Singer" in 2020, coming in third. In 2021, Bow Wow came out of retirement to team up with Omarion for the "Millennium Tour." Next up for the former teen music star? He'll host the BET reality dating series "After Happily Ever After." Bow Wow is also a doting father to daughter Shai, whom he welcomed in 2011 with former love Joie Chavis.
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"Leave (Get Out)" was a breakup anthem in 2004, but we bet most people didn't realize its singer was just 14 when it came out. The debut track catapulted JoJo (born Joanna Levesque) to pop fame while making her the youngest female solo artist to score a No. 1 single. She went on to release her second album, "The High Road," in 2006; it produced hits like "Too Little Too Late."
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JoJo famously battled with her record label after making her second album, which prevented her from releasing new music for years. She went on to release two new albums independently and re-recorded her first two albums after eventually getting out of her old contract. The star is still putting out music: She won her first Grammy Award, for bes R&B song, in 2020 for "Say So" with PJ Morton and released an EP in 2021. She popped up on "The Masked Singer the same year, coming in second. JoJo announced her engagement to actor Dexter Darden in 2021.
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"One Voice" was heard in 2000… Billy Gilman's! The young country music star was just 12 when his song became a Top 40 hit and earned him a Grammy nomination. He went on to release six albums before his 18th birthday.
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Billy Gilman made a surprising comeback in 2016 when he competed on season 11 of "The Voice." He joined coach Adam Levine's team and ultimately came in second place. Billy, who publicly came out as a gay man in 2014, continues to make music and tour.
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Jackie Evancho was just 10 when she won second place on "America's Got Talent" in 2010. She released a holiday album, "O Holy Night," that same year and with it became the youngest solo artist to ever go platinum.
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Jackie Evancho continues to make music today — her newest album, "Carousel of Time," is due out in September 2022 — while also continuing to appear on television. In 2017, her family landed a TLC series, "Growing Up Evancho," which chronicled their fight for transgender rights for Jackie's sister Juliet. Jackie also appeared on season 3 of "The Masked Singer" in 2020, coming in fifth. She's also been open about struggling with an eating disorder and in July 2022 revealed that she's battling anorexia-induced osteoporosis.
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In 2011, you couldn't escape the song "Friday" — a campy tune from teen Rebecca Black, whose music video for the earworm went viral that year. She was just 13 when the song became a pop culture phenomenon. Katy Perry asked Rebecca to be in the music video for her own song, "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)," and "Glee" did a cover of the song on an episode that year.
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Rebecca Black is still making music! The singer released her second EP, "Rebecca Black Was Here," in 2021 and keeps an active YouTube channel. She came out as queer in 2020, telling the podcast "Dating Straight," "To me, the word 'queer' feels really nice. I have dated a lot of different types of people."
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One of our youngest performers is up next — Aaron Carter, who put out his self-titled debut album when he was just 9. As the younger brother of Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter, Aaron was no stranger to fame. When he was 12, he released his second album, "Aaron's Party (Come Get It)."
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Aaron Carter sadly fell victim to a lot of pitfalls of stardom at a young age. In 2017, he appeared on "The Doctors" to discuss his troubles with addiction. That led to Aaron, who's made headlines with his face tattoo collection, entering a treatment center in 2018 and appearing on "Marriage Bootcamp: Family Edition" with his mom, Jane, in 2019 in an attempt to repair their relationship. He's also famously feuded with famous brother Nick and twin sister Angel and grieved sister Leslie, who died from an overdose in 2012. These days, Aaron is still performing live and making music — his most recent album, "LOVE," was released in 2018 — but since 2020, he's also made money posting explicit content on OnlyFans. He welcomed his first child, son Prince, with on-off fiancée Melanie Martin in 2021.
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Brandy (born Brandy Norwood) released her debut self-titled album when she was 15. By 19, she'd won a Grammy for her second album, "Never Say Never." Aside from dominating the charts in her teens, she also landed her own UPN sitcom, "Moesha," which ran for six seasons.
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Brandy continues to make her mark on Hollywood. She's put out seven albums and is at work on her eighth since signing with Motown Records in 2022. The same year, she recorded the song "Nothing Without You" with daughter Sy'Rai — whom she shares with ex Robert Smith — that appeared on the soundtrack to the 2022 "Cheaper by the Dozen" remake. She's also lent her talents to "The Voice," serving as a mentor on John Legend's team in 2021. That same year, she flexed her acting skills again on the ABC drama "Queens."
