Michelle Tumes

Born in Adelaide, Australia, CCM singer/songwriter Michelle Tumes started piano lessons at four. During her teenage years she entered a two-year classical piano course that left her so discouraged about live performance she switched her focus to dentistry instead. Her younger sister then handed over $40 earned from a paper route to persuade her to record a demo, and Tumes consented, dispatching the unsolicited tape to multiple publishing firms. Responses arrived rapidly; after inking a songwriting agreement with an Australian publisher, she moved to the United States and soon wrote Jaci Velasquez’s CCM chart-topper “If This World.” Early attempts at a solo career stalled, yet she ultimately joined Sparrow and released her first album, Listen, in 1998, scoring a major hit with the single “Please Come Back.” Center of My Universe appeared in early 2000.