Music World Gospel recording artist Le’Andria Johnson wins first GRAMMY® Awards for Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance for her single “Jesus.” Le’Andria also performed on the 54th Annual GRAMMY® Pre-Telecast Ceremony along with label mate Trin-i-tee 5:7, Kim Burrell and Kelly Price in a segment titled “Ladies of Gospel” which aired on Sunday, February 12. The ceremony was streamed live internationally at www.grammy.com/live and www.cbs.com. The live stream of the Pre-Telecast will remain on GRAMMY.com as video on demand for 30 days following the event.
On Valentine’s Day, February 14, Mathew Knowles’ Music World Gospel will release two CD projects from Le’Andria: The Evolution of Le’Andria Johnson, a seven song EP, and The Awakening Of Le’Andria Johnson Deluxe Edition, which contains the seven songs released on her debut CD plus seven new songs. This week, Le’Andria’s debut project, The Awakening Of Le’Andria Johnson lands at #5 on Billboard’s Top Gospel Album chart and her new single, “It’s Gonna Be Alright,” is #1 Most Added on Billboard’s Gospel charts.
The Awakening of Le’Andria Johnson Deluxe, which features songs with styles that range from traditional/contemporary gospel to R&B, showcases Le’Andria’s unique combination of power, skill and reverence that makes her a popular recording artist and an inspirational performer. New songs on the CD and the EP, The Evolution of Le’Andria Johnson, include her new single, “It’s Gonna Be Alright,” a high energy urban contemporary song, written and produced by Stanley Brown, in which she assures the listener that even when things seem difficult, God is standing by and things are going to be alright; and “He Was There,” a song that reminds us that God is there waiting for us to come to Him, written by Gary Paxton and Andrea Martin and produced by Stanley Brown. In the soulful “Let it Go,” written and produced by Raphael Saadiq, Taura Stinson and Sara Devine, Le’Andria encourages people to let go of their burdens and let God handle them. She goes back to her traditional gospel roots in “Sooner or Later,” an uplifting song about God turning your life around, written by Hubert Powel III and produced by Brandon “B.A.M.” Alexander and H. Doobie Powell for Chip Off the Block Productions. “He First Loved Me,” an R&B style song of praise, was written by Le’Andria and her brother, Michael Johnson, who is a featured singer on this track. Le’Andria also recorded a full-length version of the popular song, “I Shall Leap Into My Destiny,” which she wrote with her brother Terrance Johnson. Le’Andria performed this inspirational song after being crowned the winner of Sunday Best. “Overtaken” rounds out the seven new offerings on the deluxe CD and the EP. Written and produced by Eric Dawkins, it is an upbeat song of praise for the way her life has changed since God took it over.
The Awakening of Le’Andria Johnson Deluxe Edition also features her GRAMMY award-winning single, “Jesus,” co-written by Le’Andria. An urban contemporary song, with traditional gospel roots, it offers Le’Andria’s soulful and stirring testimony about the difference Jesus has made in her life, and her impassioned plea to the listener to turn to Jesus and “call Him like you want Him, call Him like you need him.” Other songs on the CD include “Cast the First Stone,” a mid-tempo song with a memorable, contemporary tune and a powerfully delivered message about how wrong it is to pass judgment on each other, also co-written by Le’Andria; “Make Him Like You,” an R&B-style petition to God to lead her toward the true love that He designed for her; “New Reason,” a new millennium twist on 1960s soul, with a message about turning from bad relationships to a new and better relationship with God; and “Struggle Not,” co-written by Le’Andria and her brother, Terrance Johnson, a spiritually uplifting and compellingly worship song about God’s blessings in our lives. The Awakening of Le’Andria Johnson Deluxe Edition also includes two tracks with medleys of songs performed by Le’Andria on Sunday Best. The first medley combines her roof-raising rendition of Quincy Jones’ and Andraé Crouch’s “God Is Trying to Tell You Something,” from the Broadway musical, The Color Purple, and her fresh take on Fred Hammond’s (Commissioned) hit song, “Running Back to You.” In the second medley, Le’Andria puts her spin on Myron Butler and Levi’s pop-style hit, “Set Me Free,” and offers a heartfelt rendition of “I Shall Leap into My Destiny.”
Le’Andria Johnson, has taken the gospel music scene by storm since being crowned the season three winner of BET’s Sunday Best in 2010. Her debut CD, The Awakening of Le’Andria Johnson, entered at #1 on multiple music charts, including both the Billboard Top Gospel Albums and the Top Christian/Gospel Albums charts. The CD also debuted at #1 on the Christian Music Trade Association’s Current Gospel Overall chart. It spent eight weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums chart, and remained in the Top 5 for over 15 weeks.
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ABOUT MUSIC WORLD GOSPEL
In 2002, Music World Entertainment President and CEO Mathew Knowles founded Spirit Rising Music, now known as Music World Gospel. Celebrating its 10th Anniversary, Music World Gospel is a premiere faith-based record and management company under the umbrella of Music World Entertainment/Music World Music. Music World Gospel is the largest owned and operated African American Gospel label in the world. The company is dedicated to developing creative and innovative approaches to producing and promoting gospel, sacred, and inspirational music worldwide. Its mission is to reach, inspire and empower a diverse audience around the globe. Music World Gospel features a roster of award-winning recording artists, joint ventures and special projects including Trin-i-tee 5:7, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Brian Courtney Wilson, Micah Stampley, Juanita Bynum, Le’Andria Johnson, Amber Bullock, Elder Goldwire, Andrea Helms, Pastor Rudy Rasmus, ESSENCE Gospel, Ultimate Gospel, the Most Powerful Voices, The Gospel Superfest, Spirit Rising and The Pastor Rudy Experience brands. Music World Gospel’s joint ventures and partnerships include Universal Music Christian Group, Fontana Distribution, Integrity Africa, BET, ESSENCE Communications, Son Flower Records, Interface Entertainment, Dr. Bobby Cartwright, Jr., and James Fortune and Fiya World, LLC. The company has achieved record breaking success on the sales and radio charts, with several artists’ albums and singles debuting atop Billboard and Christian Music Trade Association charts and remaining in the Top 5, 10 and 20 positions for as many as 100 weeks and counting.
ABOUT MUSIC WORLD MUSIC
Music World Music was founded by Mathew Knowles, founder, President and CEO of Music World Entertainment. Music World Music has had an unprecedented impact on the history of music around the globe, with record sales exceeding 300 million worldwide. Knowles established several recording imprints under Music World Music, including Music World Gospel, Music World Country/Compadre and Music World Kids. Music World Music was crowned by Billboard magazine as one of the Top Imprint Labels of the decade (2000-2009). With successes across multiple genres, including pop, R&B, gospel, dance, and country, as well as soundtracks and special themed projects, Music World Music has produced over 100 award-winning, platinum and gold albums. Music World Music was also named the #1 Dance Imprint Label in 2009 by Billboard magazine. Under Music World Music, Destiny’s Child became a global phenomenon and was named the Best Selling Female Group of All Time in popular music, selling over 100 million records and collecting nearly 200 awards, including GRAMMY® Awards, World Music Awards, American Music Awards, MTV Awards (U.S., Europe and Asia), Billboard Awards, BET Awards, NAACP Image Awards, and countless others. Under Knowles’ guidance, both Destiny’s Child and Beyoncé experienced spectacular success during the decade between 2000 and 2009. Destiny’s Child was named on Billboard magazine’s Top 10 Artists of the Decade (2000-2009) and, as a solo artist, Beyoncé was crowned Billboard’s number one Artist of the Decade—Female (2000-2009) and number 4 Top Artist of the Decade (2000-2009).
