Y'Anna Monique Crawley (born April 11, 1977) is an American

urban contemporary gospel Urban/contemporary gospel is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genre was well established by the end of the 1980s. The radio format is pitched prima ...

artist and musician. She began her music career in 2009, performing on the ''Sunday Best'' on

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

. Her first studio album, ''The Promise'', was released in 2012, by Imago Dei Music Group. This album was her breakthrough release upon the ''Billboard'' magazine charts.

Early life

Crawley was born Y'Anna Monique Crawley, Work ID No. 883710938 ISWC No. T9148038997 IPI No. 429710357 (CRAWLEY YANNA MONIQUE), on April 11, 1977, in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, and she resides in Washington, D.C. She graduated from Eastern High School in NE Washington, D.C., where she sang in the schools choir. Crawley comes from a long line of musicians, and is related to

Julius Cheeks Rev. Julius "June" Cheeks (August 7, 1929January 27, 1981) was an American gospel singer, who enjoyed the majority of his success with The Sensational Nightingales. Biography In 1954, he became a preacher but continued performing full-time unti ...

. She became pregnant when she was 17, and this caused her to do backup vocal duties for

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...

and gospel musician Stephen Hurd.

Music career

Crawley's music career began in 2009, with appearances on the

network's signing competition, ''Sunday Best'', where she finished as the

season 2 Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album) * '' 2econd Season'' See also

* {{disambig ...

champion, and received a recording contract. She released, ''The Promise'', on August 24, 2010, with Imago Dei Music Group. The peaked at number 2 on the

Top Gospel Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

and number 42 on the

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' maga ...

charts. She would win a

Stellar Award A Stellar Award is an award presented by SAGMA to recognize achievements in the gospel music industry.Sagma
The Stell ...

for Female Artist of the Year, in 2012. She also is a choir member in Coming 2 America.

Personal life

Crawley has two sons, born 13 years apart.

Discography

Studio albums

References

External links

Archive official websiteNPR InterviewDa Gospel Truth review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawley, Y'Anna 1977 births Living people African-American songwriters African-American Christians Musicians from Maryland Musicians from Washington, D.C. Songwriters from Maryland Songwriters from Washington, D.C. 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people Eastern High School (Washington, D.C.) alumni