Jo Dee Messina Reveals ‘Devastating’ Time

Jo Dee Messina has had 12 Top 10 singles and two No. 1 albums, but all her success wasn't enough to shield her from a broken heart. Painfully ending her engagement in 2004 to her road manager Don Muzquiz, and entering rehab for alcohol addiction, the same year, the singer is finally speaking out about how she bounced back.

"At the time it was devastating," the singer tells OK! magazine. "That was nine years of my life. That's a big chunk of somebody's lifetime that I was with that person, and you kind of have to relive again."

Now happily married to Chris Deffenbaugh and the proud mother of one-year-old son, Noah, Jo Dee offers advice for others in a similar situation. "Hang on," she says. "Just keep going, just keep going ... Just keep moving forward. Just take the next step forward. Keep moving. Keep breathing."

Jo Dee adds that the man she eventually married was definitely worth the wait. "When I met my husband, I could hear God snickering up there going, 'See what I had planned for you?'" Their relationship is, she reveals, pretty close to perfect. "We just fit. It was effortless. Not meaning we don't try to do things for the other person, but it was the most comfortable, effortless relationship. We loved each other. We still love each other for all the wonderful things and all the quirks."

Happy to talk about the love of her life, the proud mother is even more eager to talk about her little boy. "He is almost walking," she boasts. "He will put his hand on stuff, and take a few steps. If he wants to get there fast, he drops to his knees and crawls because he can crawl at light speed. He's got his two bottom teeth and his two top teeth, so he can take a bite off of the graham crackers. And he laughs all the time. I get him out of his crib first thing in the morning, an there he is -- huge smile. He's a very happy soul, which is a blessing."

Getting ready to release a new album, 'Unmistakable,' in April, Jo Dee is currently on the road, performing both in larger venues and in her intimate Music Room Series.

Jo Dee Messina on AOL Music