Gospel Singer Jessica Reedy is doing so much “Better” these days than in years past.
Talk about redemption; her journey was filled with self-condemnation, doubt, shame, and anger, but today she’s telling the world how her walk with God and total surrender to Him helped her reclaim her life and her very special gifts.
You may be familiar with Reedy because of her winning performance on BET’s “Sunday Best” Season 2 where she placed as the runner-up. And that’s all she needed to launch a career that she never thought possible until she put her faith and trust in God. From there Reedy has appeared on the BET Awards, BET’s Celebration of Gospel, CBS’s Christmas Special, The Stellar Awards, Bobby Jones Gospel, BET’s 106 and Park, Sheryl Lee Ralph’s Divas Simply Singing, and more.
Her debut album, From the Heart topped Billboard chart at No. 1. She is preparing for the release of her second album Transparent under her own label Purity Records.
Jessica Reedy is set to perform her latest single “Better” in front of a live audience as a featured artist at the Kirk Franklin Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues this Sunday, as part of a year-long 20th Anniversary Celebration of the House of Blues.
This all sounds very good, some might even say she is ‘lucky’ but when you learn Reedy’s story, you find out luck had nothing to do with it. We are all given certain gifts, and there is always someone who will point it out to you, and this gift separates you from everyone else. It doesn’t depend on your social status, or color of your skin, because these gifts come from God. Jessica Reedy’s gift was that of singing, and at age four her grandfather, who was a minister, recognized her talent and she became his featured singer in church.
This Saginaw, Mich. teen had a heart to sing. Her teenage years were filled with singing competitions and talent shows and education until she became pregnant and had to drop out of college. She stopped singing and decided never again to lift her voice in song.
Living in a small town, everyone seems to know your business, and Reedy says one day when she was leaving a WIC facility about eight months pregnant, a woman stopped her and said, “Jessica Reedy is that you?” The woman went on to ask, “You’re pregnant?” Reedy says she answered, “Yes ma’am.” The woman then retorted, “And to think my daughter looks up to you.” Reedy says she never forgot that conversation.
She says she lifted her voice to God and said, “God if you ever give me a chance I’ll never come to this building, ever again. If you could just give me a good job, I will never set foot in welfare, WIC, I’ll never make this walk of shame ever again because it hurt me so deeply.”
Indeed Reedy did get that good job she asked for, a technician for AT&T but in her heart she knew that wasn’t the job for her. She said, “God knew I wasn’t going to quit.” Reedy laughs, “So I got fired.” God had other plans for her.
As God would have it, she got fired a week before the BET Sunday Best auditions, clearing her path to audition for the show. But first she had to overcome her fears.
Simply put, Reedy’s voice had changed and now her pitch was much lower. She had to call on the Lord, right there, to help her use and master this new voice she wasn’t familiar with, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Before long she started noticing a pattern, for every step forward, a new fear or challenge surfaced. And each time she called on the Lord in prayer and supplication asking for help and guidance, and the Lord answered.
“Better” which is poised to become number one on the radio is a testament to her journey, and a message to all of us about the power of prayer and belief, and how God really works with you to bring your gifts, whatever they are, to the forefront of your lives. With them you can impact the world.
Gospel recording artist Jessica Reedy will be performing live at the Kirk Franklin Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues on Sunday, April 20 at 1 p.m.
For more information go www.houseofblues.com/tickets/eventdetail.php?eventid=86627.
