Jessica Reedy

Born on July 12, 1988, gospel singer Jessica Reedy began performing at an unusually young age. Her grandfather, a pastor, routinely invited the four-year-old to sing immediately after his sermons, and she soon appeared at churches and local talent shows alike, a habit that persisted throughout her public-school years. Reedy continued to pursue music and eventually collaborated with artists including Keith Sweat, Usher, Nancy Wilson, Bill Cosby, and Stu Gardner. An audition for American Idol, pursued in hopes of an R&B career, proved unsuccessful. Although she received a full music scholarship to Tougaloo College, she withdrew during her second semester after learning she was pregnant and returned to her family in Saginaw, Michigan. Now a mother raising a son and feeling discouraged, she struggled to stay afloat until a friend brought her to a BET Sunday Best audition; she finished as first runner-up, which opened new professional opportunities. She soon performed alongside contemporary gospel figures such as Mary Mary, BeBe Winans, Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond, Donald Lawrence, Kieara Sheard, and Ricky Dillard. In 2011 Light Records issued her debut album, From the Heart.