1996–1998 At age 16, O'Meara joined the earliest incarnation of girl group
Solid HarmoniE and flew out to Sweden to work with record producer
Max Martin. She'd move to Essex and performed open mic nights until she was spotted by the
S Club 7 team in a country and western bar. The show, which was a
children's sitcom, often mirrored real life events which had occurred in S Club, including the relationship of
Hannah Spearritt and
Paul Cattermole, as well as the latter's eventual departure from the group. As well as the popularity of their television series, S Club 7 won two
Brit Awards—in 2000 for British breakthrough act and in 2002, for best British single. In 2001, the group earned the
Record of Year. S Club's second last single reached number-five in the UK charts and their final studio album failed to make the top ten. However, on 21 April 2003, during a live onstage performance, S Club announced that they were to disband.
2004–2007: Relentless and reality shows In 2004, O'Meara signed with
Simon Fuller as her artist manager and began recording her debut solo album, planned to be released between September and December. The album would be focused on
R&B sound, with Fuller describing O'Meara as "the next
Christina Aguilera". In July 2005, O'Meara signed with
Sanctuary Records and on 26 September was released her debut solo single, "
What Hurts the Most", a version of
Mark Wills's 2003 song. The song peaked at number 13 on the United Kingdom and 26 in Ireland. On 3 October she released her debut album,
Relentless; the album peaked at number 48 in UK and was described by music critics as "polished", "well constructed" and "better than other former boy/girl band" albums and O'Meara's Voice as "strong". In February 2006, O'Meara took part in the BBC reality show
Just the Two of Us. Her singing partner was
Chris Fountain, actor on the
Channel 4 soap opera
Hollyoaks. The pair came third in the competition, failing to attract enough votes to make the final after their performance of "
Never Had a Dream Come True". In January 2007, O'Meara appeared on
Celebrity Big Brother. Along with
Jade Goody and
Danielle Lloyd, O'Meara was
accused of racist and bullying behaviour toward fellow contestant Indian actress
Shilpa Shetty, resulting in a record number of complaints to
Ofcom, national and international media coverage, and condemnatory statements from the British and Indian governments.
2008–2020: S Club 3 and S Club reunion In November 2008, O'Meara,
Bradley McIntosh, and
Paul Cattermole formed the spin-off group
S Club 3 and had been performing in nightclubs, universities and
Butlins holiday camps around the United Kingdom. On 12 November 2008 a bottle was thrown during their performance in
Bradford. It struck O'Meara, leaving her with a cut to the head requiring hospital treatment. A 20-year-old man was arrested and it was suggested the attack was linked to her
Celebrity Big Brother appearance where she was accused of racially aggravated bullying. O'Meara featured in a cover of the
Python Lee Jackson song "
In a Broken Dream" on
the Popes' 2012 album
New Church, her first released recording in seven years. She also appeared on stage with them performing the song. In November 2014, all seven original
S Club 7 members reunited to perform a medley of some of their greatest hits on
BBC Children In Need. They performed a reunion tour,
Bring It All Back 2015, in May 2015. Following the S Club reunion Jo continued to tour with Tina Barrett and Bradley McIntosh performing as S Club 3. In 2017, the trio released a single titled "Family" for charity but failed to chart in the UK. In August 2020, O'Meara announced that she would no longer be performing as S Club 3 to focus on her upcoming second studio album. She was replaced by former
S Club 8 member
Stacey Franks, with the group renamed as "S Club Allstars".
2021–present: Solo career return and second S Club reunion In April and May 2021, O'Meara released unplugged renditions of "
Don't Stop Movin" and "Relentless," respectively. Those songs would go on to be included in her second album,
With Love, was released on 27 August 2021, and featured twelve tracks. In 2022, O'Meara signed a new management deal with
Saga Entertainment with Jack Corbyn as her personal manager. This year also saw O'Meara taking to the stage at the
London Palladium after releasing a cover of
Radiohead classic "
Creep". In September 2022, O'Meara joined
the Celebs to mark the 40th anniversary of the
Michael Jackson classic album
Thriller and raise money for
Great Ormond Street Hospital, with a new rendition of the
title track, which was released on the independent record label
Saga Entertainment and produced by Grahame and Jack Corbyn. On 13 February 2023, it was announced that S Club were to reunite for a second time for a new arena tour in October, to mark the 25th anniversary since their original formation. The tour would consist of 10 shows in the UK and one in Ireland, before moving on to Canada and the US in 2024. == Personal life ==