Born the daughter of prosperous Chinese immigrants, young Jubilation "Jubilee" Lee was sent to an exclusive Beverly Hills school, where her talent for gymnastics was discovered. Jubilee spent much of her time rollerblading with friends at the local mall, but ultimately ran afoul of mall security. Facing juvenile detention if caught, Jubilee panicked and first manifested her mutant ability to generate explosive energy. Soon after, her parents were mistakenly killed by hitmen. Jubilee fled to the only home she had left - the mall. She survived as a petty thief and street performer, but mall security eventually tired of her eluding capture and called in a team of novice mutant hunters, the M-Squad. That same day, the mall was visited by the female members of the X-Men. When the M-Squad attacked Jubilee, the X-Men came to her aid and then left via a teleport gateway. Intrigued, Jubilee followed them through and arrived at the X-Men's base in outback Australia. She lived in the tunnels beneath the town until the X-Men disbanded, after which their former member Wolverine returned to the town and was ambushed by the cyborg Reavers, who crucified him. Jubilee helped him to escape and stayed by his side while he recovered from his ordeal, forming a close bond. After rescuing another former X-Man, Psylocke, from the Mandarin's control in Madripoor, the trio traveled to Genosha to aid in opposing Cameron Hodge. Jubilee accompanied them back to the U.S., where she joined a reformed X-Men. Eventually, Jubilee learned the truth about her parents' deaths and managed to exact revenge on the assassins, though she stopped short of killing them.

After Professor Xavier formed the Generation X training team, Jubilee joined them and became a valued member until they disbanded upon the closing of the School. Jubilee returned home to try an acting career, which was ultimately short-lived due to an unscrupulous agent exploiting her. Jubilee then briefly joined her former headmaster Banshee's paramilitary X-Corps. After that team was dissolved, Jubilee was one of several mutants captured by the mutant-hating Church of Humanity, who crucified them on the grounds of the Xavier Institute. Jubilee was one of the few to survive, thanks to the X-Man Archangel's newfound healing ability, and she rejoined the X-Men, adventuring with them against the threat of Nightcrawler's father, Azazel.

When Cyclops and Emma Frost took on the shared duty of headmaster of the Institute, the X-Men were restructured into three teams, and Jubilee was taken off the active roster. She went home to live with her Aunt Hope and returned to school, becoming a student counselor before being caught up in her Aunt's secret life as a spy. Soon after, Jubilee returned to the Institute.