Vanessa Bell Armstrong

Vanessa Bell Armstrong, born October 2, 1953, in Detroit, Michigan, is an American gospel and R&B singer whose career spans more than four decades. A seven-time Grammy Award nominee, Armstrong has also received a Soul Train Music Award and multiple Stellar Award nominations and wins. In 2017, she received an honorary doctorate in theology from Next Dimension University, conferred at the West Angeles Cathedral in Los Angeles.

Armstrong's early musical formation took place at Greater Mount Everett Church of God in Christ in Detroit, where her father served as pastor. She directed and sang in the church choir, and her development as an artist was shaped in part through her work with Mattie Moss Clark. She went on to collaborate with a wide range of gospel figures, including Daryl Coley, The Clark Sisters, Rance Allen, and James Cleveland.

Her recording career began in 1983 when she released her debut album Peace Be Still on Onyx/Muscle Shoals Sound Records. The title track became one of her signature songs. Her follow-up album Chosen reached number one on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart. Her 1986 album Following Jesus earned a Soul Train Music Award for Best Gospel Album – Solo in 1988, and she performed at the first Annual Soul Train Awards ceremony.

Armstrong expanded into mainstream music with her 1987 self-titled debut on Jive Records, which produced the Billboard-charting single "You Bring Out The Best in Me" and the club track "Pressing On." That album also included "Always," a composition by Marvin Winans that serves as a central song in the stage production Don't Get God Started. Armstrong appeared in that Broadway production, with her database record placing the credit in 1987. Her next album, Wonderful One, featured a recording of Labi Siffre's anti-apartheid anthem "Something Inside So Strong." In 1995, Armstrong joined Shirley Caesar, Fred Hammond, Tramaine Hawkins, Yolanda Adams, and other gospel artists in remaking the song as a tribute to Rosa Parks, released to radio stations on the 40th anniversary of Parks' arrest. Armstrong also recorded the theme song for the NBC sitcom Amen and recorded the duet "Choose Ye" with The Winans on their major-label debut Let My People Go for Qwest Records. Her Broadway appearance led to a cameo in the Oprah Winfrey television special The Women of Brewster Place.

Armstrong was a frequent collaborator with John P. Kee and The New Life Community Choir, contributing vocals to several recordings including "We Walk By Faith" and "We Glorify." After a self-imposed three-year hiatus from recording, she returned in 2001 with A Brand New Day, released through Tommy Boy Gospel. She received a lifetime achievement award at Gospel Superfest in 2004. Her 2007 album Walking Miracle blended traditional gospel material, including "So Good To Me" produced by Smokie Norful, with contemporary tracks such as "Til The Victory's Won" produced by Fred Jerkins III and the title track produced by Rodney Jerkins. The title song was inspired by Armstrong's son, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis around the time of the album's release. In June 2024, Armstrong released Today, her first studio album in fifteen years. She has five children.