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Recently garnered 2 Dove Award nominations for Contemporary Gospel Recorded Song of the Year + Inspirational Recorded Song of the Year
Grammy, Billboard Music, Stellar, and Dove Award-winning musician and songwriter Tasha Cobbs Leonard recently shared “The Church I Grew Up In,” the second single from her forthcoming album “HYMNS,” out Oct. 7 via Motown Gospel.
Her team said, “The new LP finds Cobbs Leonard going bigger and bolder than ever before, reimagining classic hymns of love and grace with a series of sweeping, ambitious arrangements that draw on everything from worship and gospel to country, pop and R&B.”
“HYMNS” was captured in front of a live audience of more than 3,000 at The Greenwood Oasis on the campus of New Life Southeast in Chicago, and features a number of guests, including Jennifer Hudson, Kierra Sheard, Mary Mary and The Walls Group.
“ ‘The Church I Grew Up In’ really tells the story of the album and also serves as a revival song,” Cobbs Leonard said. “It’s a reminder that who we are matters, that the church matters, that the church is still alive. I think it’s important to remind people of that coming out of this pandemic. Even though our faith may have been shaken, God’s church is still alive and his power is still here. The song captures everything I want this album to say.”
Listen to “The Church I Grew Up In” here.
In celebration of the new album, Cobbs Leonard is taking to the road with performances of the new work. She will perform at the legendary Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on Sept. 26, and at Tabernacle in Atlanta on the eve of “HYMNS” release. More dates to follow. Find information and tickets at http://www.tashacobbsleonard.com/. Preorder “HYMNS” here.
Cobbs Leonard recently garnered two Dove Award nominations for Contemporary Gospel Recorded Song of the Year for her strength and perseverance anthem “Gotta Believe,” and Inspirational Recorded Song of the Year for “Lift Every Voice.” She originally recorded “Gotta Believe” as part of NPR “Morning Edition’s Song Project,” a series launched during lockdown to provide an outlet for artists to write and perform an original song as a way to reflect the times. In an interview about the song’s origins, she opened up about some of her personal struggles, including losing family and friends to the coronavirus pandemic.
A pastor’s daughter born and raised in Georgia, Cobbs Leonard first emerged to widespread acclaim with her breakout 2013 release, “Grace,” which garnered a Grammy, three Doves, and three Stellar Awards on the strength of its chart-topping, Platinum-selling lead single, “Break Every Chain.” In the years that followed, Cobbs Leonard would go on to establish herself as one of her genre’s most celebrated voices, racking up more than 2 billion streams across platforms, landing three more No. 1 singles and five No. 1 albums, performing with everyone from Common and Nicki Minaj to Ne-Yo and Ciara, and making national television appearances.
Billboard named Cobbs Leonard the Top Gospel Artist of the Decade, while NPR declared her a “gospel sensation,” and Forbes hailed her as “by far one of the most successful contemporary gospel artists of our time.”
An advocate for empowerment and positivity, Cobbs Leonard also broke new ground as an author, actress, entrepreneur and executive pastor at The Purpose Place Church in her adopted home of South Carolina, where she co-pastors with her husband and producer, Kenneth Leonard Jr.
Connect with Cobbs Leonard: official site | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter