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, A Yolanda Adams Christmas.
Experience followed a year later.
–
John Bush, Rovi