Le'Andria Johnson

Gospel and praise & worship singer Le'Andria Johnson’s journey to a recording career almost ran like the plot for a made-for-TV movie of the week as she overcame obstacles, hardships, and personal disasters to get there. Born on January 23, 1983, Johnson was the twice-divorced single mother of three children when she fell on hard times, losing her home to foreclosure the day before a friend convinced her to drive to New Orleans in a borrowed car to audition for the cable TV show Sunday Best. The daughter of a preacher, Johnson had sung in front of her father’s congregations since she was two years old, but she had hardly considered a professional career as a gospel singer. She arrived at the TV audition with little time to spare, and wearing flip flops and the clothes she drove there in, she was amazed to be selected as a contestant. Johnson ended up being declared the winner at the end of the show’s third season in 2010, a placing that not only came with the gift of a new car and a cash prize, but also, in time, a recording deal through the show’s newly formed Sunday Best imprint under the Music World Gospel label umbrella. A debut seven-song EP, The Awakening of Le'Andria Johnson, was released in 2011, followed by a second seven-song EP, The Evolution of Le'Andria Johnson, in 2012. The two EPs were then combined in 2012 to make a full album, titled The Awakening of Le'Andria Johnson Deluxe. A second full-length, the live The Experience, also appeared in 2012. During 2015, she appeared on the Oxygen reality TV series Preachers of Atlanta, a spin-off of their hit show Preachers of L.A. She returned with her second album, Bigger Than Me, two years later. ~ Steve Leggett