A multi-talented actress, songwriter, and singer of gospel, R&B, and dance music, Ann Nesby’s vocal repertoire epitomizes the richness, substance, power, and intensity we’ve come to associate with an illustrious line of music’s greatest divas. 20th century gospel, including towering icons like Dorothy. Norwood, Shirley Caesar, Aretha Franklin and Bessie Griffin among others. However, in Nesby’s case, her influence has reached far beyond the confines of traditional gospel music, drawing secular audiences far and wide.
Like Andrae Crouch, whose music similarly drew large secular audiences, Nesby’s music blends pop and R&B with traditional evangelical forms. This, and his appearances in musical theater productions and in films, have increased his popularity not only among evangelical audiences but also within secular culture.
Ann Nesby was born in Joliet, Illinois in 1958 to devout Christian parents, who sang gospel music. Her father, a church minister, had his own gospel quartet band and her mother, heavily influenced by Mahalia Jackson’s strong vocal range, gave her daughter regular singing lessons even before she was born. her third birthday. Little Ann made her first musical impression at the age of four at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, making her solo debut to the enthusiastic applause of a euphoric audience.
In her teens, Ann developed an inclination towards secular music, but was soon dissuaded by her father. Her musical career remained largely dormant for the remainder of her teenage years, and during this time she and her family moved to Rockford, Illinois after graduating from high school. At sixteen she gave birth to a son out of wedlock and three years later she entered into a marriage that would later prove unsuccessful.
Following the breakdown of her marriage, Nesby sought to expand her music and received vocal lessons from legendary gospel icon Reverend James Cleveland, and in 1984 sang backup for Patti LaBelle, who later recorded some of Nesby’s earlier work. In 1988, aspiring Ann Nesby visited her sister Shirley Marie Graham, then a member of the popular Sounds of Blackness choral ensemble in Minneapolis. The choir’s musical director, Gary Hines, asked her to fill in for her Christmas musical and, since then, she has never looked back. Her musical career accelerated, garnering critical acclaim as the choir’s lead vocalist, drawing secular audiences on a classical gospel-based musical platform brilliantly interwoven with R&B by producers Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam. Ann led Sounds of Blackness to two Grammy Awards in 1991 and 1993 with the albums Evolution of Gospel and A Soulful Celebration.
In 1996, Ann focused her energies on a solo career and released her first solo album, I’m Here for You, produced by Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam. Although this album appeared for sixty weeks on the R&B best-seller charts and was subsequently followed by a single, Nesby’s early solo career did not have the impact she had originally hoped for and she soon directed her creative energies. to other fields. In 1997 she appeared in stage productions Diary of a Mad Black Woman, I Know I’ve Been Changed, and Cover Girls, a TD Jake gospel production.
After successful stage appearances, Nesby resumed her singing career and in 2002 released the album Put It on Paper, which she co-produced with her second husband, Timothy Lee, on the Time Child record label. Her strong penchant for R&B was clearly on display on the album on which she duetted with the legendary Al Green, earning her a well-deserved 2003 Grammy nomination in the R&B category. Also in 2003, Nesby and her husband followed up with a popular R&B album, Make Me Better, a powerful and seductive combination of traditional soul, hip-hop and gospel, which garnered critical acclaim in the tabloids; highly regarded and lauded by a growing gospel fan base and secular audiences. The album earned Nesby a Grammy nomination in 2004. The following year, she was again nominated for another Grammy Award for her contribution to The Fighting Temptations soundtrack, which featured legendary gospel diva Shirley Caesar.
In 2006, Ann and her husband released the album Ann Nesby Live and the following year, her unofficial comeback album This Is Love, which she wrote herself, was released, again to great popular acclaim from her fans and tabloids alike.
Ann Nesby is a truly phenomenal and accomplished vocal powerhouse, who has stood the test of time, with the rare musical gift of capturing and captivating audiences across diverse music genres spanning gospel, R&B, and dance hall.
