Sandi Patty
(born July 12, 1956 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma), known as "The Voice" [1] [2] is an American Contemporary Christian music singer.
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Early life
Patty was born into a family of musicians; her father was a minister of music and her mother served as the church pianist. She first performed at the age of two when she sang "Jesus Loves Me" for her church. A few years later, she and her brothers joined her parents in a performing group, known as "The Ron Patty Family," and sang at churches across the nation during summer holidays. After high school graduation from Crawford High in
San Diego, CA, she attended
San Diego State University and
Anderson University in
Anderson,
Indiana, where she studied voice and conducting. While studying at
Anderson University, she worked as a studio musician for area recording studios, singing background vocals and recording commercial jingles, including one for
Juicy Fruit gum. Her reputation as a performer and studio singer grew during the late 1970s, and it was during this time that she initiated contact with legendary
CCM musician,
Bill Gaither.
Singing career
Patty recorded her first album,
For My Friends
, an independent effort, that landed in the hands of executives at Singspiration! records. In 1979, she was signed to Singspiration! and released her first professional record,
Sandi's Song
. According to the FAQ section on her website, the name on her birth certificate is
Sandra Patty
.
[3] A printer's error on the labeling listed her name as
Sandi Patti
, and she used this moniker as her stage name for the next fifteen years, before correcting it to
Sandi Patty
.
Her career excelled after she won her first two
GMA Dove Awards in 1982, and began singing backup for
Bill Gaither and the
Bill Gaither Trio. She headlined her first national tour in 1984, and reached national acclaim after her rendition of "
The Star-Spangled Banner" was included during the
ABC Statue of Liberty rededication broadcast on
July 4,
1986. This exposure led to multiple mainstream television appearances including
The Tonight Show
, Christmas in Washington, and
Walt Disney's Fourth of July Extravaganza.
At the peak of her career, her concerts were so heavily attended that she performed in often sold-out mainstream arenas and concert halls. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, she averaged over 200 concerts a year, and supported a staff of over 30 that managed her career. During this time she was noted, often critically, as the highest-paid singer in the Christian music industry, largely due to massive touring and high-profile public appearances.
In 1992, her surprising divorce from manager John Helvering rocked the Gospel Music industry, and this was later followed by an infidelity scandal that subsequently stalled her career in the mid-'90s. However, she slowly rebuilt her career through expanding her musical appeal, performing pops concerts with symphony orchestras including the
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the
Cincinnati Pops, the
Dallas Symphony and repeatedly served as master of ceremonies for the Yuletide Celebration with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. In interviews and in her autobiography,
Broken on the Back Row
, Patty has expressed remorse and accepted full responsibility her past actions, and has outlined the steps she undertook to seek forgiveness from people affected by them.
More recently, she appeared in the 2006 annual
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in
New York City. A televised performance of
Sandi Patty's Yuletide Special
was filmed for syndication in 2006, with other performers including the
Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the
U.S. Air Force Reserve Band. Patty has recorded thirty albums, selling over eleven million units. She has been awarded five
Grammys, four
Billboard Music Awards, and is one the most-accoladed artists in the history of the
Gospel Music Association, earning thirty-nine
Dove Awards. In 2004, she was inducted into the
Gospel Music Hall of Fame, and in August, 2007, she was awarded the GMA
Music in the Rockies Summit Award.
In May 2008, Patty released her 30th studio recording,
Songs For The Journey
, in which she covers classic hymns of the church and other modern gospel classics.
2008 also saw the release of five separate compilation recordings of past songs taken from previous albums.
After her performance with the
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on December 12 2008,
Washington Blade's Joey DiGuglielmo said that Sandi Patty appears to have "a considerable throng of fans", suggesting that she is
CCM's answer to
Kylie Minogue or
Renee Fleming.
[4]
In 2009, Sandi received two GMA Dove Award nominations: Female Vocalist Of The Year, and Inspirational Album Of The Year ("Songs For The Journey").
"Simply Sandi," an acoustic album is the first solo project to be released on her own record label, Stylos Records. Released on May 5, 2009, it is currently only available at www.sandipatty.com or live events at which she is appearing. Word Entertainment is the distributor for Stylos Records, although this album is not being released commercially. In Fall 2009 she is slated to release her first live DVD, a Christmas concert recorded at First United Methodist Church in Richardson Texas. It, too will be released under the Stylos Label and available commercially through Word Entertainment/Word Distribution.
Awards
- Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductee in 2004
- 39 GMA Dove Awards: 1982 (x2), 1983 (x1), 1984 (x4), 1985 (x4), 1986 (x1), 1987 (x3), 1988 (x3), 1989 (x5), 1990 (x2), 1991 (x3), 1992 (x4), 1994 (x1), 1995 (x1), 1996 (x1), 1998 (x2), 1999 (x2)
- 5 Grammy Awards: 1984, 1986, 1987(x2), 1991
- 4 Billboard Music Awards
- 5 Gold albums (RIAA)
- 3 Platinum albums (RIAA) [5]
Discography
- 1979 - Sandi's Song
- 1981 - Love Overflowing
- 1982 - Lift Up the Lord
- 1983 - Live: More Than Wonderful
- 1983 - The Gift Goes On
(Christmas)
- 1984 - Songs from the Heart
- 1985 - Hymns Just for You
- 1985 - Inspirational Favorites
(Compilation)
- 1986 - Morning Like This
- 1988 - Make His Praise Glorious
- 1989 - The Finest Moments
- 1989 - Sandi Patti and The Friendship Company
- 1990 - Another Time...Another Place
- 1991 - The Friendship Company: Open for Business
- 1992 - Hallmark Christmas: Celebrate Christmas!
- 1993 - LeVoyage
- 1994 - Quiet Reflections
(Compilation)
- 1994 - Find It On the Wings
- 1996 - O Holy Night!
(Christmas)
- 1996 - Hallmark Christmas: It's Christmas! Sandi Patty & Peabo Bryson
- 1996 - An American Songbook
- 1997 - Artist of My Soul
- 1998 - Libertad Me Das
(Spanish album)
- 1999 - Together: Sandi Patty & Kathy Troccoli
- 2000 - These Days
- 2001 - All the Best...Live!
- 2003 - Take Hold of Christ
- 2004 - Hymns of Faith...Songs of Inspiration
- 2005 - Yuletide Joy
(Christmas)
- 2005 - Duets
(Compilation)
- 2006 - The Voice of Christmas
(Compilation)
- 2007 - The Definitive Collection Presents: Sandi Patty
(Compilation)
- 2007 - Falling Forward
- 2008 - Gospel Greats
(Compilation)
- 2008 - Via Dolorosa: Songs of Redemption
(Compilation)
- 2008 - Songs for The Journey
- 2008 - A Mother's Prayer: Songs that Inspire a Mother's Heart
(Compilation)
- 2008 - Quiet Hearts: Songs of Restful Peace for Women
(Compilation)
- 2008 - Let There Be Praise
(Compilation)
- 2009 - Duets 2
(Compilation)
- 2009 - Simply Sandi
Literature
- Le Voyage
, 1993
- Merry Christmas, With Love
, 1994
- Sam's Rainbow
, 1999
- I've Just Seen Jesus
, 2000
- Broken on the Back Row
, 2006
- Life in the Blender: Blending Families, Lives and Relationships with Grace
(Women of Faith), 2006
- A New Day: A Guided Journal
, 2006
- Falling Forward... into His Arms of Grace
, 2007
- Layers
, 2008 [6]