By SPEAKIN’ OUT NEWS
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle and accomplished Broadway musician and educator Jo Lynn Burks are newlyweds, city officials confirmed.
The couple exchanged vows during a small, private ceremony last week before taking a short honeymoon. Additional details about the wedding were not publicly released.
Burks, a Toney native and Decatur High School graduate, has built an extensive career spanning music, theater, television and higher education. She earned a Bachelor of Performing Arts in Music from the University of Alabama, where she was crowned Miss University of Alabama. She later received a Master of Musical Theatre degree from the University of Miami and earned that university’s pageant title as well.
On Broadway, Burks originated a principal role in Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story. Her Broadway credits as a musician include Hairspray, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, The Full Monty, All Shook Up and The Color Purple. She also performed on national tours of productions including Mamma Mia!, Fame, Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar.
As a singer and keyboardist, Burks has toured with Gladys Knight, lead singers from The Temptations, Leslie Gore and Roger Daltrey of The Who. She recently retired from Belmont University, where she served as a resident musical director and voice professor in the school’s Musical Theatre and Commercial Voice departments.
Battle has served as Huntsville’s mayor since 2008 and was elected to a fifth term in 2024. His first wife, educator and Free 2 Teach co-founder Eula Sammons Battle, died in October 2020 following a battle with cancer.
The marriage begins a joyful new chapter for the longtime mayor and the celebrated Alabama-born performer.