Beverly Crawford

Beverly Crawford
Background information
Born	Gainesville, Florida
Genres	Gospel music
Occupations	CO Pastor of Gainesville Family Worsip Center In Gainesville Flroida

Beverly Crawford is an African American gospel vocalist who is best known for singing with the New Life Singers on Bobby Jones Gospel on the Black Entertainment Television (BET) and for having well-known songs such as "Higher in the Lord", "Praise Jehovah", and "Run to the Water".

Early life

Born in the early 1960s in Gainesville, Florida, she is one of seven children born to a pastor. She began singing at the age of three and joined her sisters as part of the Camp Sisters.

Career

In the late 1980s, her husband, Todd Crawford, recorded a homemade video of her and her sisters singing and submitted copies to several gospel companies, with Bobby Jones Gospel the only one responding. Being impressed with the sisters, Bobby Jones invited them to sing on his show, and after about a couple of visits, he invited Beverly to join his group, New Life.

Beverly stayed on the show for six years, where she was a favorite every week. She began her solo career in 1995 with the release of Jesus, Precious King on Warner Alliance Records (now defunct), followed three years later with Now That I'm Here, which includes the hit title song and "Just As Soon (I'll Be Shouting)". The latter album was nominated for a Grammy in 1999.

In 2001, Crawford released a studio album (except for one live song) entitled Beverly on Dexterity Records (the label of the prominent minister Bishop T.D. Jakes) and in 2003 returned to the live church setting with Live Family and Friends which includes "Higher in the Lord" and "Hold On", and featured guest such as Bobby Jones, Shirley Murdock, Melvin Williams of the Williams Brothers, and her daughter Latrina Crawford. In 2007, she released her fifth album, Live from Los Angeles, on the LA-based JDI label, which contained the number one hit "He's Done Enough". The song stayed on the top ten lists for over a year.

In January 2009, Crawford won her first Stellar Gospel Music Award for "Traditional Female Vocalist of the Year" for her 2007 release. On September 19, 2009, she recorded her second album with JDI, live from Los Angeles at Faithful Central Church. It's tentatively entitled "Live from Los Angeles - Volume II" and will feature guests, including Shirley Murdock. It is scheduled to be released in January 2010.

She is married to Pastor Todd Crawford and has a daughter Latrina and a son Todd Jr. The Crawfords are co-pastors of the Gainesville Family Worship Center in Gainesville, FL.

References

External links

• www.beverlycrawford.net
• Uncloudy Days: The Gospel Music Encyclopedia, Bil Carpenter, "Beverly Crawford", p.105

"Gospel Lyfe.com: 5 Questions: James Roberson", http://www.gospellyfe.com/2009/09/5-questions-james-roberson.html