Born July 12, 1988, gospel singer Jessica Reedy got her musical start early. Her grandfather, a pastor, would frequently call her up to sing after his sermons when she was only four years old, and soon she was singing everywhere she could, at church and in local talent competitions, a pattern that continued all the way through her public school years. The young Reedy just kept singing, and in time found herself working with the likes of Keith Sweat, Usher, Nancy Wilson, Bill Cosby, Stu Gardner, and others. She auditioned for the American Idol television show in the hope of becoming an R&B star, but things didn’t work out. Reedy was given a full music scholarship to attend Tougaloo College, but that, too, wasn’t to be, and she was forced to drop out in her second semester when she discovered she was pregnant. She returned to her Saginaw, Michigan home. Discouraged, and now a mother with a son, she did her best to keep things afloat. A friend took her to a BET Sunday Best gospel audition, where she ended up placing as first runner-up, and the music doors began to open for her. Soon she was sharing the stage with contemporary gospel greats like Mary Mary, BeBe Winans, Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond, Donald Lawrence, Kieara Sheard, Ricky Dillard, and others. Light Records released her debut album, From the Heart, in 2011. ~ Steve Leggett, Rovi