One of the most beautiful voices in the American gospel scene belongs to Yolanda Yvette Adams, often referred to as the “Queen of Gospel Music”.
She is a very successful gospel singer and an actress whose voice is very familiar to millions of Americans all over the country since she is a host of a gospel shows which aires every morning.
Yolanda tries to live her life by cherishing the value of the Bible and believes that even when she is in a stressful situation that God will help her get through that period of life unharmed.
Early years
She was born as Yolanda Yvette Adams on August 27, 1961, in Houston, one of the biggest cities in Texas, in the United States.
She grew up in a big family, being the eldest child of Carolyn Jean Adams and Major Adams who loved their children very much.
Sometimes during her early life, the fact that she was the oldest child and had to take care of her younger siblings was a burden for her and she was upset about it but mostly she was fine with it.
She got along with all of her siblings very well and spent a lot of time with all of them.
Very early in her life, she discovered the serenity of Church and her joy while singing gospel music. She was very pleased when she went to church with her family and that she could participate in singing.
She soon entered the church choir when her great voice and passion were discovered by the choir leader.
She was a student at Sterling High School in her home town Houston and she was the graduate of the 1979 generation.
She was a good student, with high moral values and involved in all school activities which were connected to helping people in her community.
Her parents were very proud of her and her commitment.
After finishing high school she enrolled the Texas Southern University and started working as a teacher. No one was surprised by her choice because her family and friends knew that she wanted a job that will allow her to help and bond with people.
She was also a part-time model. She later dismissed her work in school to focus on her singing career.
Career development
While working as a teacher she was also a member of a church choir. After joining the choir she soon became the lead singer of Southeast Inspirational Choir which was directed by C. Preacher, Brenda Waters, and Shirley Joiner.
In 1982, Yolanda’s choir released a song named “For My Liberty”. She was the lead singer of the song.
Four years later, in 1986, she collaborated with Edwin Hawkins and his Seminar Choir which resulted in the release of a song “My Trust Lies in You”.
It was the same year that she finally got herself a recording contract with a label named Sound of Gospel. The label soon allowed her to make music in their studio so her debut album came in 1987. It was titled Just As I Am.
In 1990, Yolanda was introduced to a known producer named Ben Tankard. The introduction resulted in her new contract to Tribute Records which was an independent label.
Ben Tankard loved her voice and wanted to make gospel music which would be closer to jazz and blues. Yolanda first appeared on his album titled Play Me in Your Key and was the main performer of his single “You Bring Out The Best in Me” which was released in 1994.
The duo gained very positive reviews both from the gospel and jazz music scene.
In 1995, she released a project which she has written and produced and it was named “The Battle Is The Lord’s”.
Her second project that year was titled More Than a Melody.
He has done the project in collaboration with Tankard but also with O’Landa and BeBe Winans.
“Gotta Have Love,” was the first single from the album that gained serious radio play and it became a part of the mainstream. Yolanda chose to make her first-ever music video for this song.
Her last released album for Verity Records was titled “Songs from the Heart” which spawned another hit single called “Only Believe”. This single also received a big amount of radio play.
One of her own favorite songs from this album was “Still I Rise,” which she dedicated to a brave woman Rosa Parks.
After this project, she turned to Elektra Records which will produce her first album which will go mainstream and become a hit.
In 1999, Yolanda made her first serious entrance to a wider music scene with her album titled Mountain High… Valley Low.
It was released through Elektra Records and was produced by several producers like Jimmy Jam, James “Big Jim” Wright and Keith Thomas who worked with notable artists like Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, and BeBe Winans. The album gained significant airplay and it went Platinum twice.
Yolanda was very proud when she was honored with a Grammy Award for that album. She emphasized multiple times that she knows that God is by her side and that she would never succeed in becoming this good singer if God didn’t give her the voice and the strength of character.
Her biggest singles from the album were “Fragile Heart”, and “Open My Heart”.
In 2000, her first Christmas album came out and the very next year she made her first live album.
The Christmas album was very well received, simply titled “Christmas with Yolanda Adams” and only one single from that album was released. It was a single “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”.
Her live album titled The Experience brought her another Grammy Award in the category of Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album.
This album included the remake of R.Kelly’s single called ” I Believe I Can Fly”.
The album went to No.2 on the U.S. Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart and No.1 on Billboard Top Contemporary Christian chart.
In 2001, she has released her new album called “Believe”, which spawned a huge hit “Never Give Up” which was certified gold by the RIAA. This is how most people know her.
This song was the one she chose to perform at the White House on the annual “The Salute to Gospel Music” event. It was during the presidency of George W. Bush.
In 2003 she made a song that appeared on the soundtrack of the movie “Honey”. It was a really fun experience she didn’t expect to happen.
Yolanda was a big supporter of independent artists so she became a judge at the Independent Music Awards. She motivated young people never to give up on their dreams and to fight to become the people they wanted to become.
In 2005, four years after her last album, Adams released her last album called Day By Day. It was her ninth album, released by Elektra Records.
This album spawns a Grammy Award-winning single called “Be Blessed”. The Grammy was in the category for the Best Gospel Performance.
In 2007 her greatest hits collection named The Best of Me was released through her former record label called Atlantic Records. She signed to Columbia Records.
Her first album with Columbia Records got named What a Wonderful Time and was released at the end of the year.
Yolanda started her career as a radio host around that time. She became the host of her own show named The Yolanda Adams Morning Show.
Her show lasted 10 years and was very popular all over the country. Three years after canceling the show it was relaunched again on one of Texas radio stations.
In the winter of 2009, she appeared on The Mo’Nique Show, and performed her single “Already Alright”.
Her first book named “Points of Power” was released in 2010. It’s a book about Christianity and living the moral life of a true Christian. She said that it was such a lovely experience writing this.
The book is made from several chapters each titled with the most important things in life like Faith, Love, Prayer and more. It is written from Yolanda’s own experiences and she didn’t hide the fact that she had learned a lot from her mistakes.
The messages were very encouraging and I read through the book in just about a week. It allows for meditation on related scripture after each passage.
Following spring Adams released her new album titled Becoming. She said that this was her biggest project yet and she was extremely proud of what she did with her career so far.
She received an award in the category of Best Gospel Artist at the BET Awards in 2012, after the release of her eleventh album “Believe”. This was her fourth BET Award.
During her long and successful career, Yolanda made tens of collaborations.
She frequently collaborated with Gospel acts like Hopeville and Sisters In The Spirit, a known ministry made up of women and originally founded by nine sisters who wanted to be each other companions and grown into the ministry.
Personal life
As for her personal life, she got married to Troy Mason in 1987 and divorced him three years later. She was very unhappy in this marriage due to her husband’s abusive character.
A few years after the divorce she posted a video of herself singing and explaining to the audience how she suffered domestic violence and how a woman mustn’t suffer in marriage.
A lot of people were surprised by the fact that she stayed in an abusive relationship but she stated that she now knows how abused wives always give their husband one more chance from the kindness of her heart because she has done the same.
Her former husband denied all these allegations via his social media accounts.
In 1997, she got married to Tim Crawford, a former NFL player. They stayed together for a period of seven years. Tim and Yolanda have a daughter together. Her name is Taylor.
There were rumors that Yolanda had a miscarriage of her second child in the period when she was harassed by her now-former husband Timothy.
Quick summary
Full name: Yolanda Yvette Adams
Date of birth: August 27, 1961
Birthplace: Houston, Texas, United States
Age: 58
Profession: gospel singer, philanthropist, entrepreneur
Height: 1,85m
Weight: 63 kg
Net Worth: $5 million