Ask Yolanda Adams what she loves about her music and ministry. The answer is as warm, embracing, and reflective as her songs. "The music brings joy. I truly believe that my songs bring the answers and the solutions, as opposed to just talking about the problems. My music at its core is joyful."

Joyful, uplifting, inspiring, affirmative, exuberant, playful, and universal in its appeal and intention -- that is the music of Yolanda Adams. The message and ministry of this Grammy-winning Gospel/Adult Contemporary superstar is abundant with love, faith, rhythm, and wisdom. It is delivered by one of the most persuasive and popular voices in contemporary Gospel. Working with some of the biggest names in pop, R&B, hip-hop, and Gospel, Yolanda Adams's career has been marked by a string of hugely successful albums, sold-out tours, stand-out TV appearances, and a desire to incorporate into her music a multitude of genres and influences.

A lifelong resident of Houston, Texas, Yolanda grew up in a household filled with spirit, soul, and songs. Her mother studied music, and Yolanda and her five younger siblings heard everything from jazz to classical to rhythm and blues. She soaked up the sounds of Gospel legends James Cleveland and the Edwin Hawkins Singers, jazz icon Nancy Wilson, and pop/R&B great Stevie Wonder. That wide swath of sonic textures, combined with years in the church choir, would guide Yolanda -- both as a performer and a person.

She was employed as an elementary teacher in Houston when she first began to garner recognition for her stunning performances. "I taught second and third grades. I would go on the road during the weekends to sing. Pretty soon the demand started growing. I realized I might be able to make it my career."

Since her 1988 debut, the acclaimed and uplifting Just As I Am, Yolanda has been wowing gospel audiences all over the world. She has won four Grammy Awards, sixteen Stellar Gospel Music Awards, four GMA Dove Awards, one American Music Award, seven NAACP Image Awards, one Soul Train Music Award, and five BET Awards.

Yolanda currently hosts The Yolanda Adams Morning Show, which airs on Urban Gospel radio stations.