Grammy Award winner and American Idol contestant Mandisa dies at the age of 47
- The singer competed in the fifth season of the show and finished in ninth place. She went on to have a celebrated career in Christian music
Grammy Award-winning singer and former American Idol contestant Mandisa Lynn Hundley, known professionally as Mandisa, has died at the age of 47.
The singer competed in the fifth season of the show and finished in ninth place. She went on to have a celebrated career in Christian music.
Her cause of death is unknown. She was found dead in her Nashville home on April 18.
In a 2017 interview with ABC news, Mandisa opened up about her struggle with depression and said she contemplated suicide.
“Even more than her music, the platinum-selling singer will forever be known for her big heart and sincerity,” the Christian radio station says K-love said in a statement announcing her death.
“Mandisa loved Jesus, and she used her unusually expansive platform to talk about Him again and again. “Her kindness was epic, her smile electric, her voice massive, but it was no match for the size of her heart,” said David Pierce, the station’s media officer.
“Mandisa was going through a hard time, and she was vulnerable enough to share that with us, allowing us to talk about our own struggles.”
The singer competed in the fifth season of the show and finished in ninth place. She went on to have a celebrated career in Christian music
During her first appearance on American Idol in 2005, Mandisa was fat-shamed by Simon Cowell, something for which the judge later apologized.
Originally from Citrus Heights, California, Mandisa studied vocal jazz at American River College in Sacramento and music at Fisk University in Tennessee.
Her debut album, True Beauty, was released in 2007. Her 2013 album Overcomer won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album.
The singer auditioned for American Idol in 2005 and cited her musical influences from Def Leppard to Whitney Houston.
During her first appearance on the show, judge Simon Cowell made several jokes about her weight, saying: “Are we having a bigger stage this year?”
When co-host Paula Abdul said Mandisa’s voice sounded ‘French’, Cowell intervened and said a better comparison would be with the country France.
The joke prompted complaints from the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance.
Later in the season, Mandisa finally responded to Cowell.
“What I want to say to you is that you hurt me and I cried and it was painful, it really was. But I want you to know that I have forgiven you and you don’t need someone to apologize to forgive someone,” she said.
I think if Jesus could die so that all my faults could be forgiven, then surely I could extend that same grace to you too.”
Cowell apologized and said he was “humiliated” by her words.