Music World Gospel
Reading the articles Gospel stardom a bumpy road for Le'Andria Johnson written by Jonathan Landrum and Sunday Best's Le'Andria Johnson has a Testimony by Bob Marovich, gives you a depiction of the life of an upcoming gospel artist, but it also took me back in time. Le’Andria Johnson was the winner of a BET series called Sunday Best, hosted by Kirk Franklin and had a panel of gospel Grammy award winning legends, Mary Mary and Donnie McClurkin. The season that Le’Andria was on Tina Campbell was out having a baby, so Yolanda Adams took her place. I actually had an opportunity to attend several tapings during that season. I attended the taping for a friend, Dathan Thigpen, who actually made it to the finals. I did not realize what a blessing it would be to attend. This particular season another contestant, 80 year old Elder Goldwire, electrified the stage, as well. This made it a very tough competition.
Le’Andria stood out. There was something on the inside of her that drew you in. You could always tell that she was singing her story. She would ignite the crowd and the judges to the point where taping would have to stop and the people would just have to praise God. She not only had the stage presence, but the honesty the sincerity and the humbleness was all over her. I was there to support my friend, but she quickly made me a fan. This admiration only grew after hearing her story.
She arrived at the audition wearing socks and flip-flops. She described the other contestants were dressed up and she literally wore what she had. She was a twice-divorced, single mother of three, who had struggled financially to the point of foreclosure. She didn’t even have a car to get to the auditions. A close friend encouraged her and the rest is history. She is human and has struggles like the rest of us, but she is still striving to achieve. She has lost a great deal, but slowly gaining so much more. Her new album "The Awakening of Le'Andria Johnson" was released mid-September and has topped Billboard’s Gospel Album Charts for the fourth time in the last five weeks. If you ever have an opportunity to see her live, please do. You will be blessed!
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