Joann Rosario

Born to a Puerto Rican family in Chicago, JoAnn Rosario grew up both in the church (her father was a preacher) and with music, singing since she was a young girl, and as an adult she sang with the influential and prolific Fred Hammond as part of his group Radical for Christ. In 2002, under the guidance of Hammond (and as part of his fledgling label, in conjunction with Verity Records, a subset of Zomba), Rosario came out with her debut, More, More, More, which combined urban R&B sounds with contemporary gospel and even Latin music, but soon after the album's release, she began to notice trouble with her voice. The following year nodules were found on her vocal chords, rendering speech, let alone singing, nearly impossible. After taking time off to treat the nodules and recover, Rosario returned in 2005 with Now More Than Ever...Worship, and two years later with Joyous Salvation.