Yolanda Adams
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Yolanda Yvette Adams (born August 27, 1961 in Houston, Texas) is an American singer, one of the most popular gospel music artists of the contemporary period. Along with Kirk Franklin, Adams is among the artists who have achieved the greatest critical and commercial success in blending R&B styles and gospel music, an achievement which, while it initially caused criticism among the conservative Christian church, later helped gospel gain airplay in secular venues. She is often referred to as the "Whitney Houston" of Gospel Music because of the similar strong vocals.
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[edit] Biography
Adams graduated from Sterling High School in Houston in 1979 [1]. Adams originally worked as a schoolteacher and part-time model in Houston, Texas. Inspired by her mother, Adams turned to music and released her first album, Just as I Am, in 1987. By the mid-1990s, Adams was a popular and well-known performer, and in 1999 signed a major-label deal with Elektra Records, resulting in a number of successful albums.Considered by many to be the first lady of modern Gospel, Yolanda Adams has fashioned an enviable career over the past 15+ years through a combination of class, grace and plain old great singing.
Raised as the oldest of six siblings in Houston, Texas, Adams grew up in a household where she was exposed to musical influences ranging from classical to gospel to Motown. She sang throughout her teen years and continued performing on weekends following her graduation from college even as she began a career teaching elementary school. Soon she began to garner significant note as a singer and made the decision to give up teaching to perform full-time. Her work as the lead singer of the Southeast Inspirational Choir (including a powerful, enthusiastic turn as the lead on "Sacrificed His Life," among others) attracted the attention of Thomas Whitfield and Sound of Gospel Records, for which she recorded her debut album Just As I Am in 1988. Her strong, soulful voice and striking, statuesque beauty scored quickly with Gospel audiences, and the debut hit the Gospel top 10. She moved to Tribute Records in 1990 and began a string of top 10 Gospel albums that made her a staple on Gospel radio and awards shows, though with little crossover to pop or urban radio.
A decade after her arrival, Adams received her first significant attention outside the Gospel realm with her signing by Elektra Records and the release of Mountain High...Valley Low in 1999. Working with hot producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (Janet Jackson, Boyz II Men), Warryn Campbell (Mary Mary) and Keith Thomas (BeBe and CeCe Winans), Adams released an extremely contemporary urban album that nonetheless sounded timeless moral and spiritual themes that clicked with pop and urban audiences. Urban Adult Contemporary radio loved the ballad "Open My Heart," but the album also bore a basket of great cuts, including the up-tempo "Time to Change" and "Yeah" and the beautiful song of loss and faith, "Fragile Heart." After a decade of charting only in the Gospel world, Adams found herself with a top 5 R&B and top 40 Pop hit that stayed on the charts for over a year. It also won for Adams her first Grammy, a well-deserved "Best Contemporary Soul Gospel" award.
After releasing a Christmas album, Adams followed up Mountain High with Believe, a safer, less ambitious disc that scored moderately with “Never Give Up,” but failed to match the critical accomplishment of its predecessor (though it also won a Grammy). A live album later that year, The Experience, was better, and captured her magnetic stage performance, scoring with a cover of R. Kelly’s "I Believe I Can Fly" and "In the Midst of it All."
Adams then took a four year hiatus that included both a new baby and an unfortunate divorce, as well as work as a spokesperson for the FILA Corporation's Operation Rebound program, addressing the concerns of inner city school children. As 2005 arrived, Adams readied her next album Day by Day, set for a late August 2005 release.
Her first release on Elektra, Mountain High...Valley Low, won the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album, and its single "Open My Heart" was a Top 10 R&B hit and won the 2000 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Song. Two years later, she won a second Grammy for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album, this time for 2001's The Experience. In addition, Adams has received the Image Award for Outstanding Gospel Artist three times (in 2000, 2001, and 2002), and the 2001 Image Award for Outstanding Female Artist.
[edit] Personal life
In 1988, Adams married Troy Mason. That marriage ended in divorce less than one year later. In 1997, Adams married former NFL player Tim Crawford. They had one daughter, Taylor Ayanna, in 2001. However, in August 2004, Adams filed for and obtained a divorce from Crawford.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Sounds Of Gospel Release
- 1988: Just As I Am
- Benson Release
- 1991: Through The Storm
- Tribute/Verity Releases
- 1993: Save the World
- 1995: More Than a Melody
- 1996: Shakin' the House: Live in L.A.
- 1996: Yolanda...Live in Washington
- 1998: Songs From the Heart
- 2006: The Essential Yolanda Adams (Legacy Recordings)
- Elektra Records Releases
- 1999: Mountain High...Valley Low
- 2000: Christmas with Yolanda Adams
- 2001: The Experience
- 2001: Believe
- Atlantic Records Release
- 2005: Day by Day #23 US
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 | US R&B/Hip-Hop | |||
| 1993 | "The Battle Is the Lord's" | - | - | Save The World |
| 1995 | "Open Arms" | - | - | More Than A Melody |
| 1995 | "Gotta Have Love" | - | #97 | More Than a Melody |
| 1996 | "The Battle Is the Lord's [LIVE]" | #75 | - | Yolanda...Live In Washington |
| 1998 | "Only Believe" | - | - | Songs From The Heart |
| 1998 | "Still I Rise" | - | - | Songs From The Heart |
| 1999 | "Open My Heart" | #57 | #10 | Mountain High...Valley Low |
| 1999 | "Yeah" | - | - | Mountain High...Valley Low |
| 2001 | "I'm Gonna Be Ready" | - | #74 | Believe |
| 2001 | "Never Give Up" | - | #79 | Believe |
| 2005 | "Someone Watching Over You" | - | #59 | Day by Day |
| 2005 | "Victory" | - | - | Day by Day |
| 2005 | "This Too Shall Pass" | - | - | Day By Day |
| 2005 | "Be Blessed" | - | - | Day By Day |
[edit] Guest Contributions
- 2000: Sum of All Fears (Soundtrack)
- 2002: The Fighting Temptations
- 2004: Honey (Soundtrack)
- 2005: The Gospel
- 2006: Madea's Family Reunion (Soundtrack)
- 2006: Happy Feet (Soundtrack) on "I Wish" along with Patti LaBelle and Fantasia
