Yolanda Yvette Adams
August 27, 1961
She is an American gospel singer, actress, and host of her own nationally syndicated morning gospel show. She is one of the best-selling gospel artists of all time, having sold over 10 million albums worldwide. In addition to 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”, the “First Lady of Modern Gospel”, while Variety dubbed her the “Reigning Queen of Urban Gospel”.Adams was named by Billboard, in 2009, as the No. 1 gospel artist of the decade, driven by the sales of her No. 1 album Mountain High…Valley Low.[9] In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award 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”. Billboard listed her as one of the Top Gospel Artists of the 2010s. She has scored five number-one albums on Billboard’s Top Gospel Album. Adams was inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame in 2022. Early lifeThe 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.
dams released her first book Points of Power in 2010. It is a Christian book in reference to living a pure, spirit-filled Christian life.
Personal life
Adams was married to Troy Mason from 1987 until 1990. Adams said spousal abuse was the reason for their divorce. In 1997, Adams married former NFL player Tim Crawford. The couple divorced in August 2004 after seven years. Adams and Crawford have one daughter, Taylor Adams Crawford, born in 2001.
Adams served as a spokesperson for the Fila Corporation’s Operation Rebound, a program that addressed the concern of inner-city schoolchildren.
Adams was inducted into Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority as an honorary member on July 8, 2018.