Jaci Velasquez: 1979—: Vocalist

Jaci Velasquez made one of the most stunning debuts in contemporary Christian music history with her first album, Heavenly Place, in 1996. The album eventually earned a gold record with over 500,000 copies sold and helped Velasquez earn a Gospel Music Association Dove Award for Best New Artist in 1997. With her subsequent releases Velasquez earned several more Dove Awards—including consecutive honors for Female Vocalist of the Year in 1999 and 2000—and 16 of her singles topped the Christian music charts. Even more remarkable was that this string of successes started when Velasquez was just 16 years old. Now in her early twenties, Velasquez's popularity as a performer has broadened with Spanish-language releases aimed at the secular market and a memoir, A Heavenly Place, designed to help young, Christian women live by their religious principles.

Christian Entertainment Background

Jacquelyn Davette Velasquez was born on October 15, 1979 in Houston, Texas. She was the youngest in a family that included the four children from her parents' previous marriages. Her mother gave her the nickname "Jaci" (pronounced "Jackie") as a shortened version of her given name. David and Diana Velasquez ran an evangelical ministry, which allowed them to engage their love of music to express their religious beliefs, as they traveled around the country. Earlier, David Velasquez had a successful career in Christian music as part of the Dallas-based group the Galileans. Velasquez's group released 25 albums and earned a Gospel Music Association Dove Award for Best New Artist in 1970, the same award that his daughter would claim in 1997.

With music such a major part of the family's life, it was not surprising that Jaci Velasquez demonstrated her musical abilities from an early age. As her mother recalled in an October 1999 interview with the Dallas Morning News, "I remember she was not two yet and we were in this little church where the nursery was right around the corner from the sanctuary, and the door was open. We were singing 'Our God Reigns,' when all of a sudden, the pastor put his hand to his lips for everyone to be quiet because he could hear her from the nursery. She was singing the chorus, and it was so cute because she even did the little lick in the chorus—'Our God reigns, our God reigns, our God re-e-e-igns.' And everyone was just sitting there listening and their eyes got huge." Throughout her childhood, Velasquez and her mother accompanied her father's performances as back-up singers; by the time she was ten, she had taken over as the lead singer of the Velasquez family trio.

During her teens Velasquez continued to hone her skills by performing with her family and entering talent contests around Texas. With such a hectic performing and traveling schedule, Velasquez was home-schooled by her mother. Her major break came when the Velasquez family appeared as the opening act for the popular Christian act Point of Grace at a church concert in Columbus, Texas, in 1994. The group's manager, Mike Atkins, was so impressed with Velasquez's singing that he signed on as her manager. After sending a videotape of her performance to Nashville-based Myrrh Records—a division of leading Christian media outlet Word Entertainment—Velasquez secured her first recording contract. She was just 15 years old.

Debuted at Age 16

Velasquez's debut album, Heavenly Place, was released in May of 1996 and immediately went into the top ten on the Christian music charts, while its first single, "If This World," became her first number-one single. Eventually Heavenly Place topped the sales charts as well and earned a platinum record for over one million copies sold. Velasquez was also honored with the Gospel Music Association's Dove Award for New Artist of the Year and became the youngest-ever recipient of the award.

While a constant round of concerts, recording dates, and personal appearances kept the teenager busy, Velasquez also became involved with a number of social issues. A proponent of sexual abstinence before marriage, Velasquez served as national spokesperson for the True Love Waits campaign. Using her visibility to help other teens take responsibility for their actions and avoid making poor decisions, Velasquez nevertheless took a realistic view of the pressures teens faced. "Don't get me wrong," she explained to the Dallas Morning News in October of 1999, "I like guys. I have a lot of guy friends and I date. But I use common sense and I don't get into a situation I can't get out of and end up giving something away to a person who doesn't deserve it." The young singer promoted the message in her 1998 book A Heavenly Place, published in English and Spanish by Simon and Schuster, which gave Christian teens some advice about making the transition to adulthood with their values intact. In 1998 Velasquez also took on the role of national spokesperson for the National Christian College Athletic Association. Although she did not intend to pursue a college education, Velasquez enjoyed touring colleges to promote a Christian-oriented message to students.

Velasquez proved that the success of her debut was no fluke when her second album, Jaci Velasquez, was released in 1998. The album quickly topped the Christian music charts and sold over 500,000 copies. One of the album's singles, a testament to the power of prayer called "On My Knees," earned Velasquez her second Dove Award in as many years, this time for Song of the Year. One of the few dark spots in her life was the breakup of her parents' marriage; David and Diana Velasquez separated in 2000. Velasquez turned to her religious faith to help her cope with the experience. As she told Today's Christian Woman in a May 2001 interview, "I realized I'm not responsible for other people's choices. Through this situation, I learned the only One I can count on is Jesus. He doesn't leave."

The Latin Market and Continued Success

In 1999 Velasquez made the unusual move of signing a recording contract with Spanish-language label Sony Discos, based in Miami, Florida. She retained her contract with Word Records for her Christian music releases, but would release Spanish-language albums for the secular market as well. Although Velasquez was not fluent in Spanish and retained other songwriters to pen her album, Llegar a Ti (To Get to You), she looked at her new contract as an opportunity to reach out to the Hispanic audience.

Yet she insisted that the turn toward the mainstream pop market did not mean that she was abandoning her Christian principles. "I relate to what I sing about," she told Billboard in a February 2000 interview. "I relate to [Llegar a Ti.] It is about a love one day I will have…. I don't sing about love in the 'Hey baby, come on over, let me show you' way. I am a believer in sexual abstinence. I plan on remaining a virgin until the day I get married." Reflecting her point of view, the tracks on Llegar a Ti steered clear of overt sexual references and included romantic lyrics that could also be construed as devotional songs. It also included some of her past contemporary Christian hits, this time sung in Spanish.

Llegar a Ti sold over one million copies and earned a Dove Award for Spanish-language Album of the Year in 2000. That year Velasquez collected her second consecutive Dove Award for Best Female Vocalist. Her next album, Crystal Clear, arrived in August of 2000 and featured two songs cowritten by the singer. The album was another major hit and earned a gold record for over a half-million in sales. Velasquez delivered a second Spanish-language set in 2001, Mi Corazón (My Heart), which explored some of the emotional turmoil that the singer had experienced during her parents' divorce. At the end of 2001 Velasquez simultaneously released Christmas and Navidad, featuring traditional holiday tunes in English and Spanish.

Selected discography

Heavenly Place, Myrrh Records, 1996.

Jaci Velasquez, Myrrh Records, 1998.

Llegar a Ti, Sony Discos, 1999.

Crystal Clear, Word Records, 2000.

Mi Corazón, Sony Discos, 2001.

Christmas, Word Records, 2001.

Navidad, Sony Records, 2001.

Sources

Periodicals

Billboard, February 19, 2000, p. LM-8; August 12, 2000, p. 16; May 12, 2001, p. 116.

Dallas Morning News, June 3, 1998; October 5, 1999.

Texas Monthly, May 1997.

Today's Christian Woman, May/June 2001, p. 96.

On-line

Everything Jaci, Jaci Velasquez Official Artist Web-Site, 2002, http://www.planetjaci.com/newsite/facts.htm

Jaci Velasquez Bio, Word Records Web Site, 2002, http://www.wordrecords.com/jaci/jaci-bio.html

—Timothy Borden