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,[1] with some albums achieving multi-platinum status.[2] She is one of gospel music’s most-awarded artists having won 5 Grammy Awards,[3] 4 Dove Awards, 5 BET Awards, 6 NAACP Image Awards, 6 Soul Train Music Awards, 2 BMI Awards and 16 Stellar Awards also being the first artist inducted into the Stellar Awards Hall of Fame.[4] She was awarded the first American Music Award given to a contemporary gospel artist.[5]
She is known as the "Queen of Contemporary Gospel Music"[6] and the "First Lady of Modern Gospel".[7] Variety dubbed Adams as the "Reigning Queen of Urban Gospel".[8]
On December 11, 2009, Billboard named her the No. 1 Gospel Artist of the last decade.[9] with her album Mountain High…Valley Low acknowledged as the best gospel album.[10] President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 for her volunteer service.[11] She was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame by the Gospel Music Association in 2017.[12] In 2018, she became the first gospel artist nominated for a Tony Award for her work on SpongeBob SquarePants.[13] In 2019, she became the first gospel singer and the fifth artist to receive the Soul Train Music Awards Lady of Soul Award,[14] and won critical acclaim for officially opening Super Bowl LIV with her performance of "America the Beautiful".
On an April 2013 episode of BET’s Lift Every Voice, Adams announced that she was working on her twelfth studio album. The album title and release date has yet to be announced, but she announced songwriting and producing credits from the likes of super gospel producers Donald Lawrence, Israel Houghton & Kirk Franklin. She also mentioned a song and studio session with Grammy, Billboard & ASCAP award-winning global hit songwriter Diane Warren (Whitney Houston, Patti Labelle, Tina Turner, Elton John).
