"Stand Beside Me" Goes To #1 in Billboard
Moves 9* to 4* to 1* To Become I'm Alright's 3rd Chart-Topper

Nashville (01/15/99) - The girl's on a roll! Country sensation Jo Dee Messina scores the third #1 in-a-row from her nearly-platinum I'm Alright as "Stand Beside Me" leaps from #4 with a bullet to the top of Billboard's Country Singles chart.

Having closed out the year with two of the Top 5 Songs of 1998 - "Bye, Bye" was #2 most played, "I'm Alright" was #4 - according to Billboard, and having set and tied her own record for most weeks in the Top 30, Messina continues connecting with country music fans in a meaningful way.

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Hailed by Entertainment Weekly, which wrote "...she thrills with her earnest alto and an attitude that's equally part spunk and spite" and New Country who proclaimed, "the most passionate singer on the country charts right now, bar none," Messina infuses her songs with a sense of dignity and strength real people relate to.

"What can I say?" Messina says. "I'm so happy and thrilled and surprised. Last week going from #9 to #4 was a shock - and now this! It's the coolest!! If it wasn't for the folks at radio and the country fans... I don't know how to tell them how much all this means to me."

With two prestigious Country Music Association Award nominations under her belt for Video of the Year and Horizon Award, recognition as one of USA Today's Critic's Choice Top 10 Singles of 1998, a whirlwind tour of Australia where she was the first artist to place two songs simultaneously in the Top 10 and an appearance in "The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade" where she debuted "Stand Beside Me," Messina's momentum keeps growing.

After Messina heads to Dallas where she will be Neal McCoy's special guest on the concert program "All Access," she begins rehearsals for her new live show. So, look for a major touring announcement in the coming weeks.