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BORN: 1964
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, Yolanda Adams Christmas.~ John Bush, All Music Guide |
