Biography
Chrystal Rucker, recognized by gospel audiences as a soprano whose dynamic interpretations of “Over the Rainbow” and Walter Hawkins’ “Changed” stand out, grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, as the daughter of a bishop in the Church of God in Christ. From toddlerhood she sang in church settings, later enrolling at the University of Missouri–Kansas City to study both music and English. After becoming a mother she took a steady office job yet continued performing on weekends. Demand for her voice soon grew, resulting in guest appearances on albums by Edwin Hawkins, Myron Williams, and Jerome Greene. Further visibility came through Dorinda Clark-Cole of the Clark Sisters within COGIC circles, which opened additional concert dates and allowed her to make music her profession. A series of strokes in 2007 threatened both her life and her ambitions, yet she resumed live performances at the earliest feasible moment and issued a self-released, self-titled album in 2009. She maintained a presence on other projects, among them Moses Tyson, Jr.’s 2011 release World Class Gospel Music Jubilee and Ricky Dillard’s Keep Living. When Earnest Pugh launched EPM Music Group in 2012, he recalled her earlier performance at the funeral of Grammy-winning choir director O’Landa Draper and brought her into the studio. The label issued her debut, You Deserve, that summer; its title track entered the Billboard Hot Gospel Songs chart while the album itself climbed into the gospel Top Ten.
Singles
