Few entertainers today can match the unbridled energy and creative passion that Tamela Mann brings to her multi-faceted career. An acclaimed actress, NAACP Image Award nominee and Dove Award-winning vocalist as well as wife and mother, Mann\u2019s talent has helped anchor one of the industry\u2019s most successful film, TV and theatrical franchises, while her amazing vocal gift is at the top of her impressive resume.<\/p>\n
Tamela seems to effortlessly juggle a variety of notable projects while still finding time to aid such worthy organizations as the American Diabetes Assn. 2012 looks to be a memorable year for Mann as she\u2019ll be seen with Jordan Sparks and Whitney Houston in the upcoming film \u201cSparkle,\u201d she and her husband, NAACP Image award winning actor and comedian, David Mann will co-host a new lifestyle and cooking TV \u201cHanging With The Manns,\u201d and she\u2019s releasing a new album, \u201cBest Days\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to present music that people can be blessed by and that can be healing,\u201d she says about her new record. \u201cWe have to put music out to keep people encouraged and keep lifting the body of Christ up, and even the ones that haven\u2019t become Christians. We need to encourage them that the best thing that they could ever do is become a child of God.\u201d<\/p>\n
With \u201cBest Days,\u201d Tamela is on a mission to share the strength and joy that can be found in being a child of God. Produced by Myron Butler, the project showcases Mann\u2019s powerful voice and her gift for wringing every ounce of emotion from a great lyric. The title track, penned by Butler, is a jubilant celebration of God\u2019s promises. \u201cIt\u2019s a very encouraging song. It gives a lot of hope,\u201d Tamela says. \u201cIt\u2019s about looking back on your past and not letting your past take over your life. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Things will be better.\u201d<\/p>\n
That positive, life-affirming attitude is not only the focal point of Tamela\u2019s new album, it\u2019s at the heart of everything she does. Whether she\u2019s starring in a film, a play or on television with her husband David in the successful TBS comedy \u201cMeet the Browns,\u201d or recording a Dove Award-winning album, the singer continually touches people with her impressive talent and her Christ-like spirit.<\/p>\n
Faith has always been the foundation of Tamela\u2019s life. \u201cIt was all about faith and all about God in my mom\u2019s house,\u201d She recalls of growing up in Fort Worth, Texas as the youngest of 14 kids. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t listen to like R&B or blues. My mom would say, \u2018You can\u2019t listen to those blues in my house.\u2019 She was really strict, but we listened to a lot of gospel music—The Clark Sisters, Andrae\u2019 Crouch, Walter Hawkins, The Williams Brothers and Inez Andrews.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tamela knew at an early age that she was called to music ministry. \u201cWhen I was eight-years-old, I was going to youth choir rehearsals with my older siblings, and I would start learning the songs that they were singing. I noticed myself scooting up closer and closer to the choir stand, singing with the choir. I jumped in there and started singing soprano right off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though she was young, her voice caught the attention of the choir director and her uncle, who was the pastor. \u201cI had an opportunity to sing the lead and the song was James Cleveland\u2019s \u2018I Don\u2019t Feel No Ways Tired.\u2019 It went over so well and I got so moved while I was singing the song, I started crying. I didn\u2019t know what it was at the time, being so young, but it was like the spirit of God would take me over every time that I would sing. I found out that singing was my passion.\u201d<\/p>\n
By the time she was 12, she was in the singing choir at the Holy Tabernacle church. Shortly after high school, she met three young men that would change her life forever. David Mann became her husband Darrell Blair who is now her pastor, and their pal Kirk Franklin, who helped launch Tamela\u2019s singing career when he recruited her to be part of his groundbreaking group, The Family. Tamela sang on five of Franklin\u2019s albums and has fond memories of those days. \u201cI look at all of us and just how God has blessed us in different areas,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019re going on and doing our own things. We\u2019re all still serving the Lord which is really a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n
After her stint with The Family, God continued to open doors for Mann to serve him in the arts. She landed a role in the play \u201cHe Say. . .She Say. . .But What Does God Say?\u201d Her stage skills were noticed by actor\/writer\/producer Tyler Perry who chose her to appear in his play, \u201cI Can Do Bad All By Myself.\u201d From there her acting career escalated as she developed the role of Cora Simmons in Perry\u2019s plays and such films as \u201cDiary of a Mad Black Woman,\u201d \u201cMadea Goes to Jail\u201d and 2011\u2019s \u201cMadea\u2019s Big Happy Family.\u201d The Madea films have become one of Hollywood\u2019s most successful film franchises and Mann\u2019s portrayal of \u2018Cora Simmons\u2019 has become a cornerstone of the series.<\/p>\n
Tamela has also taken \u2018Cora\u2019 into America\u2019s living rooms via the television screen, co-starring with her husband David in the #1 TBS series, \u201cMeet the Browns.\u201d Yet even as she\u2019s become increasingly successful as an actress, Mann\u2019s passion for music has never diminished. She\u2019s recorded four highly acclaimed albums, including \u201cThe Master Plan,\u201d which won the 2011 Dove Award for Traditional Gospel Album of the Year and was nominated for an NAACP Image award.<\/p>\n
Though an award winning project might cause some artists to feel pressure when they enter the studio to record their follow up album, Tamela just felt excited and motivated to take her music to another level, and she does just that on \u201cBest Days.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cI take no glory. I take no merit for myself because it all comes from Him,\u201d Mann says. \u201cEverything that I am comes from Him. The Lord gives me words and the most fulfilling part is that I can plant a seed of joy and hope for people that I\u2019ve never met.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among Tamela\u2019s favorite songs on the new album is \u201cAll To Thee.\u201d \u201cThat is a worship song that says, \u2018Less of me, more of thee, all the glory and all the honor belongs to you .\u2019 The lyrics make me cry because they remind me that it\u2019s not about me,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s all about Him and I just want to be able to give everything that I have to Him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBack in the Day Praise\u201d is a nostalgic tune that takes Tamela back to her roots. \u201cWhen I was growing up we\u2019d have a lot of tent revivals,\u201d she says, \u201cand it\u2019s talking about all the things we did back in the day and how when people would go to church they would kneel and pray. It\u2019s a reminder of how we used to praise God.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGuest of Honor\u201d is a modern worship anthem about treating the Lord as an invited guest. \u201cSome of lyrics say, \u2018Here we are Lord. We are waiting for your arrival.\u2019 It\u2019s another one of my favorite songs on this album,\u201d she states. Tamela is also excited about her daughters, Tia and Tiffany, making their recording debut on \u201cBest Days.\u201d \u201cI\u2019m so excited for people to hear them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tamela Mann has been blessed with a busy life filled with faith, family and a rewarding career. She and David have been happily married for 24 years and have four children and seven grandchildren. The couple serves as spokespeople for the American Diabetes Association, helping educate people on healthy food choices and the importance of exercise. They also incorporate tips into \u201cHanging with the Manns,\u201d a new cooking show the couple is co-hosting. They revel in the opportunity to work together on different projects. \u201cWe started out as best friends and we tell each other everything,\u201d she says of what keeps her marriage strong. \u201cEverything that we have accomplished has been together and it\u2019s just really a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Mann\u2019s home base remains in Texas and they are active in their church. \u201cI\u2019m always involved in church when I\u2019m home,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen we have activities, I\u2019m the decorator. I always decorate the fellowship hall. I really like being involved and I think it\u2019s important because the pastors need laborers. They don\u2019t just need members. They need laborers. It\u2019s very important to come and be a part of actual fellowship and be a part of activities.\u201d<\/p>\n
As much as she loves being home, she also loves touring and ministering to people all over the world through her music. \u201cThat\u2019s where I find my joy, when I can sing and minister to people,\u201d she says, \u201cbecause I see the hope and encouragement that it gives people. It\u2019s something that I will do until I die. I will do this until the Lord calls me home because this is one sure way that I know I can tell people about Him so He can be glorified. I\u2019ll never stop because I love it so much.\u201d<\/p>\n
Few entertainers today can match the unbridled energy and creative passion that Tamela Mann brings to her multi-faceted career. An acclaimed actress, NAACP Image Award nominee and Dove Award-winning vocalist as well as wife and mother, Mann\u2019s talent has helped anchor one of the industry\u2019s most successful film, TV and theatrical franchises, while her amazing … <\/p>\n