Yolanda Adams Biography
Ask Yolanda Adams what she loves about her
music and ministry. The answer is as warm, embracing, and reflective as
her songs. 'The music brings joy. I truly believe that my songs bring
the answers and the solutions, as opposed to just talking about the
problems. My music at its core is joyful.'
Joyful, uplifting, inspiring, affirmative, exuberant, playful, and
universal in its appeal and intention – that is the music of Yolanda
Adams. The message and ministry of this Grammy-winning Gospel/Adult
Contemporary superstar is abundant with love, faith, rhythm, and wisdom.
It is delivered by one of the most persuasive and popular voices in
contemporary Gospel. Working with some of the biggest names in pop,
R&B, hip-hop, and Gospel, Yolanda Adams's career has been marked by a
string of hugely successful albums, sold-out tours, stand-out TV
appearances, and a desire to incorporate into her music a multitude of
genres and influences.
'It's vitally important to keep growing now that people know me and my
music,'she says. 'We've been blessed enough to impact so many lives,
both in and out of the typical Gospel market, so on each album it's
important to keep reaching outward so that even more people can get
inspiration from what we do. Luckily, I don't have to be anybody but
Yolanda, because people don't expect me to be anything other than who I
am. For an artist, it's a great place to be.'
A lifelong resident of Houston, Texas, Yolanda grew up in a household
filled with spirit, soul, and songs. Her mother studied music, and
Yolanda and her five younger siblings heard everything from jazz to
classical to rhythm and blues. She soaked up the sounds of Gospel
legends James Cleveland and the Edwin Hawkins Singers, jazz icon Nancy
Wilson, and pop/R&B great Stevie Wonder. That wide swath of sonic
textures, combined with years in the church choir, would guide Yolanda –
both as a performer and a person.
Word of Yolanda's talent began to make its way into the close-knit
Gospel music community and before long the former schoolteacher caught
the attention of the prolific composer/producer Thomas Whitfield. With
his assistance, Yolanda recorded 1987's JUST AS I AM, which was released
on a small Gospel label. The album drew comparisons to Aretha Franklin
and lead to subsequent releases on Tribute Records (now Verity Records).
1991's Through The Storm earned Yolanda several Stellar Awards. Four
years later, the R&B-infused More Than A Melody garnered Yolanda her
first Soul Train Lady of Soul Award and Grammy nomination. Along with
the accolades, More Than A Melody 'broke'Yolanda to a wider audience and
established her as a force, in and out of the music industry.
Yolanda began to make a name as a live act and her galvanizing concerts
became the stuff of legend. The excitement was captured on 1996's
YOLANDA...LIVE IN WASHINGTON, which brought her another Stellar Award
and another Grammy nomination, and lead to her signing with Elektra
Records. Yolanda's first release on the mainstream powerhouse was 1999's
groundbreaking MOUNTAIN HIGH...VALLEY LOW.
A testament not only to the power of faith but also the possibilities of
collaboration, MOUNTAIN HIGH...VALLEY LOW was an album that preached
not only to the converted but also to fans of urban music. Working with
A-list producers like Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis and Keith Thomas,
Yolanda made the cross over without watering down or compromising her
message, and fans and critics took notice. Typical of the reviews was
one that stated, 'much of the album recalls Stevie Wonder or Bob Marley,
where spirituality is at the center but it doesn't limit the musical
expression.' The album would go multi-platinum, receive the Grammy in
2000 for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album and the first American
Music Award for Inspirational Artist of the Year, win several Stellar
Awards, and spawn the hugely successful Sisters In the Spirit Tour. That
journey – also featuring Shirley Caesar, Mary Mary, and Angela Christie
– became the inspiration for Yolanda's acclaimed second live
collection, The Experience. That same year Yolanda also released her
first holiday album, Christmas With Yolanda Adams, and gave birth to her
daughter, whom Yolanda lovingly describes as 'a very good child, in and
out of the womb.'
Motherhood didn't slow Yolanda down. With baby in tow, she continued to
bring her praise songs to sold-out stages. In 2001, she entered the
studio to record the richly satisfying BELIEVE. That album – like her
newest effort, DAY BY DAY – reunited Yolanda with the innovative group
of producers who had created Mountain High...Valley Low. 'Whenever you
work with people that you're familiar with, they know your heart and
what you like,'she notes. 'They know that your message is and that you
want to help people. So it's pretty cool to be able to work with your
friends, and I've been blessed to do so in the past and on my new
album.'
2005's DAY BY DAY marks Yolanda's first album for Atlantic Records. Due
to restructuring at her label, she found herself on hiatus for nearly
four years, though as she notes, 'The great thing about Gospel is that
you don't have to have an album every year in order to keep working.'
Yet despite the time off, Yolanda was far from idle. She kept touring
and began to lay the groundwork for her Voice of an Angel Foundation,
which focuses on mentoring high school students nationwide in order to
help them find a career in education. The foundation received its
non-profit certification in the winter of 2005 and will hold its maiden
mentoring camp next summer. 'Education is one of the greatest rewards
for me – not only to instruct young people but also to mold them into
great thinkers.'
Yolanda is also heavily involved in other children's issues. She works
closely with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources to ensure
that kids in low-income areas receive immunizations. Along with that
nationwide program, Yolanda lends her energy and commitment to a number
of other child-based organizations, including The Children's Defense
Fund and Houston charities such as juvenile diabetes and The Escape
Center. 'I'm very involved with kids because after being a teacher for
seven years, I just can't stop loving the kids. I am a teacher forever.'
With her unerring sense of humanity and her compassionate message,
Yolanda Adams has touched audiences worldwide, and they in turn have
made their impact upon her. 'I believe that fans enhance your career.
They draw out of me what they need and that's how I'm able to write the
songs. It inspires me to feel their love and appreciation. It's like
what Sally Fields said when she won the Oscar, 'You like me! You really
like me!'I never take that for granted, and each year and each album I
am humbled that there are people who want to hear my songs. It's truly
amazing.' It's truly the grace and favor of God.
Yolanda Adams All Music Guide Biography
Another in the line of gospel artists putting the soul and fervor back in R&B music,
Yolanda Adams
was a school teacher in Houston during the mid-'80s and occasionally
did modeling work. Her mother had studied music while at college, so
Adams grew up listening to jazz and classical music as well as gospel artists such as
James Cleveland and the Edwin Hawkins Singers and R&B vocalists like
Stevie Wonder and
Nancy Wilson.
Yolanda Adams'
debut album, Just as I Am appeared in 1988 on Sounds of Gospel. Though
she was initially criticized in the Christian community for embracing
secular music and fashion to accompany her gospel-themed music, the
growth of publicly popular gospel in the mid-'90s pushed her into the
spotlight;
Adams
toured with Kirk Franklin & the Family, and her 1996 album Yolanda
Live in Washington was nominated for a Grammy. Songs From the Heart
followed in 1998, and a year later she returned with
Mountain High Valley Low
which topped her live album by winning a Grammy. In 2000 she ventured
into new territory by issuing a Christmas album, A Yolanda Adams
Christmas.
