Country music star Jo Dee Messina has revealed the brutal comment from a Nashville record label that has haunted her for decades.
The 55-year-old singer admitted she was once rejected early in her career because executives believed she was ‘too fat’ to sign during her recent appearance on The Bobby Bones Show.
The Bye Bye hitmaker recalled that the criticism was delivered bluntly to her producer while she was trying to land her first major deal in Music City.
‘I remember I got turned down by a record label in Nashville. They said I was too fat,’ she said.
‘They told my producer that, “Oh, if she was 10 pounds lighter, we'd have signed her.”’
Messina admitted the harsh rejection left her crushed - and the sting has never quite faded.
Country music star Jo Dee Messina has revealed the brutal comment from a Nashville record label that has haunted her for decades; (pictured March 2026)
The 55-year-old singer admitted she was once rejected early in her career because executives believed she was ‘too fat’ to sign during her recent appearance on The Bobby Bones Show; (pictured May 2006)
‘It's 30 years later, I'm still talking about it. I didn't let it go,’ she admitted.
Daily Mail has reached out to Messina's representatives for comment.
‘I remember I got turned down by a record label in Nashville. They said I was too fat,’ Messina said., adding,‘They told my producer that, “Oh, if she was 10 pounds lighter, we'd have signed her"'; (pictured May 2023)
Messina also made history at the time by becoming the first female country artist to score three multiple-week No. 1 songs from the same album, cementing her place as one of the genre’s most successful acts of the decade.
