Yolanda Yvette Adams (born August 27, 1961) is an American gospel singer, record producer, actress, and host of her own nationally syndicated morning gospel show. She has sold nearly 10 million albums worldwide, with some albums achieving multi-platinum status. She has won four Grammy Awards, four Dove Awards, five BET Awards, six NAACP Image Awards, six Soul Train Music Awards, two BMI Awards and sixteen Stellar Awards. She was the first Gospel artist to be awarded an American Music Award.She is known as the “Queen of Contemporary Gospel Music”[6] the “First Lady of Modern Gospel”, while Variety dubbed her the “Reigning Queen of Urban Gospel”.On December 11, 2009, Billboard listed her as the top-selling gospel artist of the decade from 1999 through 2009, driven by the sales of her No. 1 album Mountain High…Valley Low. President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 for her volunteer service. She was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame by the Gospel Music Association in 2017. In 2018, she became the first gospel artist nominated for a Tony Award for her work on SpongeBob SquarePants. In 2019, she received the Soul Train Music Awards Lady of Soul Award, and received critical acclaim for officially opening Super Bowl LIV with her performance of “America the Beautiful”.The eldest of six siblings, Adams was born in Houston, Texas. She graduated from Sterling High School in Houston in 1979. After graduating from Texas Southern University, she began a career as a schoolteacher and part-time model in Houston. Eventually, she gave up teaching to perform full-time as a lead singer.
Written by Dianne Washington