Even when history was on the line, Tamela Mann was determined not to cry. In this instance, history began with a phone call from her husband, David.
“David, who is also my manager, called and said, ‘You’ve broken the record; you made history,’” she recalled.
The history made was Mann becoming the only Gospel artist ever to achieve 10 No. 1 songs on the Billboard charts. This milestone caused the artist to reflect on her gratefulness and on her journey — a journey that took her from being a member of Kirk Franklin’s Family, to success in stage plays, television, film and music.
David and Tamela Mann
“People need to know that I really don’t keep up with these things,” she said. “So when David told me what the recognition was about, I was overwhelmed with thankfulness to God. I’m so thankful to God for just being God and I believe these songs have really been a blessing to somebody. God has not finished with us. I’m so grateful that God allowed me to make history on the Billboard charts. However, I’m not gonna cry.”
Doing what she does today has been a dream of hers since she was 12.
“I love it the same as when I was 12 years old, when I discovered and noticed that singing was what I wanted to do. I still love it to this day. I can’t make nobody else feel the way I feel, but I just don’t want to get tired. I want my voice to stay up and going and not be hoarse or raspy. I just want to make the Lord proud.”
She smiles with a full grin while continuing: “Loving Jesus and wanting to please Jesus helps me out so much because I don’t want to let him down. So that’s what it all comes down for me; making my Father proud in everything I do. From singing to acting, to how I treat people when nobody is looking.”
Mann believes her music is birthed from what she is experiencing in her daily relationship with God. This is why music fans resonate with her hits like “Take Me to The King” and “I Can Only Imagine.”
But as she contends to keep her focus on God, her continued prayer is to not be distracted by her success.
Tamela Mann as Cora Jean Simmons in “Madea’s Big Happy Family.”
“We’re not judged according to what people do to us, but what we do to them,” she explained. “That’s what God holds us accountable for. I just believe he will give us the going power, the strength we need to stand through this test of time. Because I know I have a calling, and because I have a calling from God, I’m going to try and not let anything distract me.”
One of the more painful moments in Mann’s career was when Gospel superstar Kirk Franklin decided to disband The Family. She recalls the pain of that news and how she wasn’t sure what God was going to do with her life and career next.
“I cried real tears. I felt like it was over over. And I was like, ‘What are we going to do?’ And you know, I even said to Kirk: ‘I know what I was called to do including standing behind you.’ I felt like my purpose was to never be out in front but to be a background singer, so when I see what God is doing now I’m just amazed.”
Mann surely couldn’t imagine that God would take her career from the brink of almost ending to the heights of success, from being a backup singer to fronting concerts herself. Because of what God has done for her, she truly believes God can use anyone. She encourages up-and-coming artists to walk in this same radical faith.
“God is no respecters of persons. If he’s done it for me, he can do it for anybody,” she declared.
Mann truly is thankful for the Billboard recognition but also believes God has much more in store for her.
“There have been times I felt like, ‘Lord, get me out of everything before it turns to a tornado; I don’t want to be in this storm.” But I can tell you this: God has got me and David out in the nick of time every time, because he has called me to this ministry.”
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