Gospel Singer Yolanda Adams Details Her 1st Solo Album in 13 Years: ‘It Was a Journey’
Nothing was going to get in Yolanda Adams’ way of releasing new music following a 13-year break.
“We started the album in 2018, and of course, the world went through a whole bunch of stuff. Jimmy [Jam] and Terry [Lewis] started working with Babyface, and they started doing Vegas,” the gospel singer, 63, exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the release of her new album, Sunny Days, which dropped Friday, September 13. “And then I started traveling, and then the whole shutdown of the world.”
While Adams couldn’t do much during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns, she was fired up to get back to business once things started to return to normal. In 2022, she landed a leading role on the musical drama series Kingdom Business.
“By the time we opened the world back up, Kingdom Business seasons 1 and 2 were a part of my life. And I couldn't, like, really, record, record,” she explained. “I'm like, ‘OK, I gotta get to you guys. I gotta get to either California. Y'all got to come to Houston because we need to get this album done.’”
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Adams was able to link up with Jam, 65, and Lewis, 67, who have been her longtime collaborators — and the wait was worth it.
“Thank God it is done. We are excited. It was a journey, and just like life, things happen, but we recovered,” she told Us. “And boy, did we recover with Sunny Days.”
Sunny Days is Adams’ first solo album in 13 years. Her last project, Becoming, was released in 2011. Becoming was Adams’ 11th studio album, and it earned her her fourth Best Gospel Artist award at the BET Awards.
While Adams didn’t release new music for nearly a decade, she admitted she had no plans to say goodbye to her career.
“We had always said we were going to put out another solo project,” she reflected. “And as I said before, life started … and I got busier [while] trying to do it.”
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Adams added that in addition to being strapped for time herself, she also had to coordinate around Jam, Lewis and Donna Lawrence’s “busy” schedules. However, Adams was a big proponent of the feeling that it will happen when it’s meant to be.
“It was like, when it's time for the music to flow out, it's gonna flow out. I'm one of those hippie girls. I love God's timing. I love the right energy,” she said. “I love being able to glean from my own personal experiences. Because, when there are a billion people on the earth, somebody is probably going through something similar, if not the same, as I'm going through.”
Sunny Days is now available to stream and purchase.
With reporting by Amanda Williams
