The Reminder that Grammy-Winning Christian Artist Mandisa Leaves Behind: 'Look at the Psalms'

Grammy-winning Christian recording artist Mandisa has passed away. The Christian radio network K-LOVE first reported the tragic news of the “Stronger” singer-songwriter’s death over the airwaves on Friday morning before sharing the news to social media.

Mandisa — whose full name is Mandisa Hudley — died at her Nashville home on Thursday at age 47.

The Christian radio outlet K-LOVE is reporting that Mandisa has passed away. She was 47. The cause of death is not yet known, and details are sparse, but she reportedly died at her home in Nashville. https://t.co/cJMF83NVR8 pic.twitter.com/l9DUCVcu5v

— CBN News (@CBNNews) April 19, 2024

In a statement, K-LOVE Chief Media Officer David Pierce said, “Mandisa loved Jesus, and she used her unusually extensive platform to talk about Him at every turn. Her kindness was epic, her smile electric, her voice massive, but it was no match for the size of her heart.”

“Mandisa struggled,” he added, “and she was vulnerable enough to share that with us, which helped us talk about our own struggles.”

The “Overcomer” singer appeared on CBN’s “Quick Start” in 2022 to talk about her memoir, Out of the Dark, which chronicled her struggles with anxiety and depression amid her fame following her success on the 2007 season of “American Idol.”

The Gift of Openness

In her book, Mandisa addressed dark and difficult subjects — like her near-suicide attempt — and how the Lord redeemed those broken things in her life for His glory and her good. The singer-songwriter’s suicide attempt, she told CBN, came amid a spiraling depression sparked by the death of her friend, Keisha, whom she was believing would survive breast cancer.

When her friend died, Mandisa didn’t know how to cope. “When she passed away, it shook the foundation underneath me and I was angry,” she said. “[I] was numb. And then I started to question God.”

Rather than talk about her pain, though, Mandisa kept it bottled up. “I kept it all inside,” she reflected back in 2022. “Before I knew it, I was miserable and hopeless. I didn’t want to be around anybody. I stayed in my house for two years, essentially, just eating and getting worse and worse.”

“It was a slow fade,” she continued, “until the point where I really wanted to end it all.”

Ultimately, Mandisa’s attempt to take her own life failed. Looking back, she told CBN it was the wake-up call she needed. At the time, she said, “I’m able to see now how God has redeemed it. I still wish my friend were here, but I’ve learned how important it is to grieve and to walk with God through things like that.”

'Look at the Psalms'

The Lord used the Old Testament book of Psalms to help Mandisa understand the pain she was feeling.

“Look at the Psalms,” she encouraged. “I mean, you see David one minute talking about how good God is and the next minute saying, ‘I want you to slaughter my enemies,’ and, ‘How could you allow this?’ … I have learned how important it is to say these things because I think we miss the comfort that we get from God when we choose to just stuff it down and not say anything at all.”

You can listen to our full conversation with Mandisa here:

She also appeared in the summer of 2022 on CBN’s “700 Club Interactive.”

During that conversation, she shared how she came to Christ as a teenager when her mother — at her coworker’s invitation — took her to a singing Christmas tree performance.

“Never mistake that a little invitation like that can really change somebody’s life, because it did for me,” she said. “I remember sitting there in that audience, seeing all the musical acts and everything up on the stage. But really, I was struck by the life of Jesus and how He came for us and, for the first time, though I had been going to church every other weekend when I would visit my dad and step-mom, it just struck something new in me in that moment.”

“So I made the decision — I stuck my little hand up,” she continued, noting the pastor then encouraged those who wanted to come to know Christ to come forward to the altar. “As I walked down that aisle, I had that moment where [I thought], ‘If Jesus would make such a public declaration for me, then I can do the same for Him.'”

You can see that full conversation below:

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