Yolanda Adams Releases ‘Sunny Days,’ Her First Album in 13 Years

Summer season could also be ending, however Yolanda Adams is preserving issues sunny.

The gospel legend launched her new album Sunny Days on Friday, Sept. 13 beneath Epic Information. This marks her first file in 13 years and her first main label launch in 17 years.

Throughout 15 tracks — together with two remixes of her lead single “Church Doorways” — Adams, 63, reminds listeners why she’s the reigning queen of latest gospel because of her signature mix of contemporary manufacturing, inspirational lyrics and timeless vocals. The royal moniker caught on following the crossover success of her platinum-selling 1999 album Mountain Excessive…Valley Low and its Sizzling 100-charting single “Open My Coronary heart,” which turned 25 earlier this month.

When wanting again on her mainstream breakout success, Adams says placing collectively Mountain Excessive…Valley Low got here from a purpose-driven, real place.

“[I] simply [loved] the method of getting these songs out of my head and coronary heart onto a pc and into the ears and the hearts of individuals, as a result of that is what music ought to do,” Adams tells PEOPLE solely. “Music ought to at all times get into the heads, the hearts and the palms of individuals and their toes as properly, as a result of there ought to be some dancing as a result of I like to bounce.”

The Houston-born songstress has labored with numerous collaborators over her 35+ yr profession, however a bunch of her signature data, together with “Open My Coronary heart,” had been executed with none aside from Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis– the super-producer duo behind hit data from Mary J. Blige, Usher, Boyz II Males and, most notably, Janet Jackson.

For Adams, it was a “no-brainer” to work with Jam & Lewis again then and but once more on Sunny Days.

“Working with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis was completely superior for me as a result of Sylvia Rhone was at Elektra [as chairwoman and CEO] on the time and he or she advised me, ‘Get your wishlist out of producers that you simply need to work with. And you already know, it does not matter who they’re. We will file with them,'” Adams explains.

“And now the remaining is historical past! ‘Open My Coronary heart,’ ‘Be Blessed,’ ‘This Too Shall Cross’ — all of that good things, you already know? So, yeah, I am actually excited. And the identical pleasure I had for Mountain Excessive Valley Low is similar pleasure I’ve proper now, in all probability much more for Sunny Days.”

The journey to completion for Sunny Days has been one full of ups and downs and begins and stops courting again to 2018. Between enjoying schedule-tag with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the pandemic and filming the primary two seasons of BET+’s soapy church drama Kingdom Enterprise, Yolanda Adams realized that she needed to put aside devoted time to carry the venture to completion. 

And by 2023, it appeared like she had executed simply that— till Sylvia Rhone, who’s now chair and CEO of Epic Information, made a suggestion.

“So between getting again within the saddle with the music on the finish of 2023, we had all the pieces,” says Adams. “After which Sylvia Rhone was like, ‘We want two extra songs.’ And naturally, these two extra songs wound up being the final two songs that we did — “Church Doorways” and “Blessings” from Donald Lawrence and Sir, the Baptist.”

“Church Doorways,” a spirited, Sunday morning monitor finds Adams testifying about overcoming life’s obstacles, but it surely’s a remix that soundtracks the official music video. That includes the hovering vocals from the unique model, Adams — flanked by colorfully dressed dancers — fills the display screen together with her Colgate-white smile and bops alongside to a ’90s-inspired membership combine by Terry Hunter.

When discussing her signature up to date gospel proclivities — which generally fall in step with beats which can be trending in pop, R&B, dance and hip-hop genres — Adams says that it’s merely a mirrored image of her dedication to authenticity.

“There are too many individuals on this planet who’re making an attempt to imitate their favourite, making an attempt to sound like and trend their phrases and trend their life by the those that they admire,” she says.

“And nothing’s fallacious with that, however then you definitely stop to be your self. And so due to the way in which I used to be raised on this very free-thinking household the place everyone had their very own voice and everyone had their very own abilities, I didn’t really feel any must be anyone aside from Yolanda.”

And after many years within the music enterprise, Adams, who turned 63 years outdated on Aug. 27, nonetheless feels blessed, impressed and grateful.

“You notice the blessing of getting older and wiser as you become old and wiser,” Adams displays. “And also you notice that there is some individuals who by no means made it to this age. So I am actually enthusiastic about nonetheless with the ability to reside my goals out. [To] love what I do, have essentially the most superb household and buddies that I can share all the pieces with, having love and wonderment in my life. It is simply nice.”

Stream Yolanda Adams’ new album Sunny Days and catch her on The Reunion Tour alongside Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond, The Clark Sisters, Marvin Sapp and Kierra Sheard-Kelly this fall.