Tarrian LaShun Pace (September 6, 1961 – March 21, 2022), professionally known as LaShun Pace and sometimes credited as LaShun Pace-Rhodes or Shun Pace-Rhodes, was an American
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
–nominated
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
singer–songwriter and
evangelist. Pace was also a
Stellar Award
A Stellar Award is an award presented by SAGMA to recognize achievements in the gospel music industry.[Sagma](_blank)
The Stell ...
winner.
Biography
Early life and education
Pace was the fifth of ten children born to Pastor Murphy J. Pace and Bettie Ann Pace in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. Pace along with her sisters and brother were raised in a small community called Poole Creek. For high school, Pace attended Walter F. George High School (now known as
South Atlanta High School South Atlanta High School is a public high school located in the southeast corner of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is located on the site of former George High School, and it formed as the result of the merger of George and nearby Fulton High ...
); graduating in 1979.
Career
Pace began singing professionally during her teen years in the mid–1970s, performing solo and later alongside her sisters in the group
The Anointed Pace Sisters which formed in the late–1980s. Pace's singing and ministering skills were honed while she was on tour with the Rev. Gene Martin and the Action Revival Team, and in 1988 she recorded ''In the House of the Lord'' with Dr. Jonathan Greer and the Cathedral of Faith
Church of God in Christ Choirs for
Savoy Records. The label signed Pace as a solo artist soon afterwards. In 1990, she released her debut album ''He Lives'', which reached the number two spot on the ''
Billboard'' gospel charts and featured her signature song "I Know I've Been Changed". The follow-up song ''Shekinah Glory'', appeared in 1993. Three years later, Pace returned with ''Wealthy Place'', which included the song "Act Like You Know" featuring
Karen Clark Sheard
Karen Valencia Clark Sheard (née Clark; born November 15, 1960) is an American Grammy Award–winning Gospel singer, musician, songwriter, and businesswoman. Clark-Sheard is the wife of the current Church of God in Christ Presiding Bishop J. Dre ...
.
In addition to successive releases such as 1998's ''Just Because God Said It'', Pace also enjoyed a career as an actress, most notably co-starring as the Angel of Mercy in the 1992
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominate ...
film ''
Leap of Faith
A leap of faith, in its most commonly used meaning, is the act of believing in or accepting something outside the boundaries of reason.
Overview
The phrase is commonly attributed to Søren Kierkegaard; however, he never used the term, as he ...
''. LaShun Pace was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame in 2007. She was to attend the official presentation ceremony with many guests to be formally inducted, but became ill and unable to attend. In 2009, LaShun was nominated for ''Urban Performer of the Year'' in the Visionary Awards. Winners were to be announced live during the 2009 Christian Music Hall of Fame Awards Show on November 14, 2009.
Personal
Pace was married once to Edward Rhodes, a Georgia–based pastor from 1986 until divorcing in 1999. Together they had two daughters; Xenia Pace Rhodes (b. August 31, 1989
–d. February 11, 2001) and Aarion Pace Rhodes. In 2003, Pace released an autobiography entitled ''For My Good But For His Glory'' in which she discussed a wide range of topics, including the death of her first-born daughter, Xenia who had an enlarged heart and died of a heart attack.
Illness and death
Pace had been on
dialysis for several years and was awaiting a
kidney
The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blo ...
. She died of
organ failure
Organ dysfunction is a condition where an organ does not perform its expected function. Organ failure is organ dysfunction to such a degree that normal homeostasis cannot be maintained without external clinical intervention.
It is not a diagnosis ...
according to her family on March 21, 2022, at the age of 60.
Discography
*''In the House of the Lord'' with Dr. Jonathan Greer and the Cathedral of Faith Choir (1988)
*''He Lives'' (1990)
*''Shekinah Glory'' (1993)
*''A Wealthy Place'' (1996)
*''Just Because God Said It'' (1998)
*''God is Faithful'' (2001)
*''It's My Time'' (2005)
*''Complete'' (2007)
*''Reborn'' (2011)
*"By Your Word" (2014)
*"Joy" (2019)
*"The Spirit" (2021)
References
* FindAGrav
*
The official Christian Music Hall of Fame and Museum page announcing both her induction into the Hall of Fame and the 2009 Awards Show information page.*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pace, Lashun
1961 births
2022 deaths
African-American women songwriters
American gospel singers
American autobiographers
Musicians from Atlanta
Writers from Atlanta
American Pentecostals
Members of the Church of God in Christ
Women autobiographers
Songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)
American women non-fiction writers
20th-century African-American women singers
21st-century African-American women singers