Crystal Lewis (Born September 11, 1969 in Corona, California) is the name of an American Gospel Vocalist.

Biography

Early Years 1985-1991

In 1984, at the age of 15, Lewis auditioned for a children's musical called Hi Tops, written and produced by Ernie and Debbie Retino, creators of Psalty, the Singing Song Book. Lewis passed the audition and was able to go into the studio and participate in the Soundtrack recording with the rest of the cast members. While working with the musical, Lewis met a member of the Rockabilly band, The Lifters. After becoming friends with the members of that band, Lewis was asked to join. Soon after, the band changed its name to Wild Blue Yonder. Lewis also met her current husband, Brian Ray, through her association with the band.

Wild Blue Yonder was together for two years and recorded a single full length album, produced by Daniel Amos frontman Terry Scott Taylor, for Frontline Records in 1986. She would also sing on D.A.'s album Fearful Symmetry in 1986, and Taylor's solo album A Briefing for the Ascent in 1987. After Wild Blue Yonder disbanded, Frontline offered Lewis a solo recording contract at the age of 17. Beyond the Charade, her first solo project, was released in 1987.

Metro One & Television Appearances 1992-1995

Lewis went on to record two more albums for Frontline, Joy in 1988, and Let Love In in 1990, before starting her own record label, Metro 1 Music in 1992 with a distribution deal through Diamante Music Group.

For a brief time, Lewis starred in a Nickelodeon Television series called Roundhouse. Lewis left the show after one year.

Her next solo project, Remember, was recorded and released on Metro 1 label in 1992, followed by The Bride in 1993, and Hymns: My Life in 1995. The Bride was listed at # 97 in the 2001 book, CCM Presents: The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music. A greatest hits collection released that year landed Lewis in the # 1 spot on the Pop/Dance charts with her rendition of "Shine Jesus Shine."

Rise to Fame & Commercial Success 1996-2000

Beauty For Ashes was released in 1996, the first album from Metro 1 Music to be distributed through a new arrangement with Myrrh Records. Ashes was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, and the song "People Get Ready...Jesus Is Comin' " was the # 1 song of the year (1996) in Christian Radio. The album also won an ASCAP award for "Beauty For Ashes" as the most played song (1997). The album contained four # 1 radio singles: "People get ready...Jesus is Comin' ", "Beauty of the Cross", "God's been good to me", and "Beauty for Ashes."

Gold was released in 1998 and gave Lewis two # 1 hits, "Lord, I Believe in You" and "Not the Same". Gold & Beauty for Ashes have collectively sold nearly 1,000,000 copies to date. Gold was later re-issued that same year with a new recording of "Lean on Me" (lead vocals by Crystal Lewis), which originally appeared on Kirk Franklin's album The Nu Nation Project that included "Lean on Me" featuring Mary J. Blige, R.Kelly, Bono, Crystal Lewis and The Family. Crystal's version of "Lean on Me" went on to become Crystal's third #1 hit from Gold. That same year, Crystal won Dove Awards for "Female Vocalist of the Year" and "Spanish Language Album of the Year" for La Belleza de la Cruz. Lewis also joined Franklin along with Gerald Levert, Mary J. Blige, and Bono on stage at the 1999 Grammy Awards for a performance of "Lean on Me."

Lewis returned to her Rockabilly roots briefly in 1999 with The Attack of the Screamin' Rays. The live project Live @ The Woodlands, recorded live in Houston, Texas on November 6, 1998, was also released that year. Crystal picked up two more Dove awards in 1999 for "Special Event Album" for her contribution to the project Exodus, and "Spanish Language Album" for Oro. In 2000, Lewis released Fearless, which was nominated for "Best Christian Pop Album of the Year" at the 2000 Grammy Awards. The song "Only Fools" from that album was voted song of the year by ASCAP. Her first Christmas album, Holiday! A Collection of Christmas Classics, went on to be voted the 5th Best Christmas album of all-time by CCM Magazine

Other Projects 2001-Present

Crystal released her second greatest hits project More in 2001. A second live project, More Live, recorded at the Sun Theater in her hometown of Anaheim, California on November 17, 2001, was released in 2002, along with another collection of hymns and gospel standards, Holy, Holy, Holy. See was released in 2005, and, the children's project, Joyful Noise was released in 2006. Crystal currently resides in the state of Montana with her husband and two kids.

Discography

English Albums

Year	Title	Artist	Label
1986	Wild Blue Yonder	Wild Blue Yonder	Frontline
1987	Beyond The Charade	Crystal Lewis	Frontline
1989	Joy	Crystal Lewis	Frontline
1990	Let Love In	Crystal Lewis	Frontline
1991	Simply The Best	Crystal Lewis	Frontline
1992	Remember	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music
1993	The Bride	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music
1994	The Remix Collection	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music
1995	Greatest Hits	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music
	Hymns: My Life	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music
1996	Best Of The Harvest	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music
	Beauty For Ashes	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music/Myrrh
1998	Gold	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music/Myrrh
1999	Attack Of The Screamin' Rays	The Screamin' Rays	Metro 1 Music
	Live @ The Woodlands	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music
	Harvest 2000	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music
2000	Fearless	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music/Word/Interscope/GospoCentric
	Holiday! A Collection of Christmas Classics	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music
2001	More	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music
2002	More Live	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music
	Holy, Holy, Holy	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music
2005	See	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music
2006	Joyful Noise: Songs For Kids!	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music

Spanish Albums

Year	Title	Artist	Label	English Counterpart
1992	Recuerda (original recording - withdrawn)	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music/Spectra	Remember
	Recuerda (second recording)	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music/Diamante	Remember
1993	La Esposa	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music	The Bride
1995	Himnos De Mi Vida	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music	Hymns: My Life
1996	La Belleza de la Cruz	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music/Myrrh	Beauty For Ashes
1998	Oro	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music/Myrrh	Gold
2000	La Coleccion	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music	A greatest hits album with 3 songs from Fearless re-recorded in Spanish.
2003	Santo, Santo, Santo	Crystal Lewis	Metro 1 Music	Holy, Holy, Holy

Singles

• "You Didn't Have To Do It" (Frontline)
• "Joyful, Joyful"
• "I Now Live" (1992)
• "The Mother & The Bride" (1993)
• "Come Just As You Are" (1995)
• "Shine Jesus Shine" (1995) (#1 CCM Dance hit)
• "People Get Ready...Jesus Is Comin' " (1996) (# 1 CCM hit)
• "Beauty For Ashes" (1996) (# 1 CCM hit)
• "The Beauty Of The Cross" (1996) (# 1 CCM hit)
• "God's Been Good To Me" (1996) (# 1 CCM hit)
• "Lion and the Lamb" (1996)
• "Not The Same" (1998) (# 1 CCM hit)
• "Lord I Believe In You" (1998) (# 1 CCM hit)
• "Be With Him" (1998)
• "Lean On Me" / "Dyer Rd." (1999)
• "Only Fools" (2000)
• "Satisfied" (2000)
• "Trust Me" (2000)
• "Like a Child" (2001)
• "When God's People Pray" (2001)
• "His Eye Is On The Sparrow" (2002)
• "The Wisdom Of Tenderness" (2002)
• "Learn To Fly" (2005)
• "Just Sing" (2005)

Videography

• Hi-Tops (film) (1985) [VHS]
• Crystal Lewis On Film (1995) [VHS]
• Milk Break: A Metro One Sampler, hosted by T-Bone (1996) [VHS]
• One Voice: featuring Bryan Duncan, Anointed, and Crystal Lewis (1997) [VHS]
• Un Retrato Intimo: A Solas Con Crystal Lewis (1998) [VHS]
• WOW 1999/Bio Videos (1998) [VHS, double set]
• More (2001) [DVD, bonus]
• More Live (2002) [DVD]
• Jesus Video "American Heroes Edition" (2003)

Music Videos

• I Now Live (Remix) (1992) [feat. Rapper Peace]
• The Beauty Of The Cross (1996)
• Beauty For Ashes (1996) [feat. Ron Kenoly]
• Belleza Por Cenizas (1996) [feat. Marcos Witt]
• Lord, I Believe In You (Remix) (1998)
• Cristo Yo Creo En Ti (Remix) (1998)
• Lean On Me (1998) [Kirk Franklin with Mary J. Blige, R. Kelly, Bono, Crystal Lewis and The Family]
• Trust Me (2000)
• More (2001)
• His Eye Is On The Sparrow (2002)
• Be The Light (2003)

References

External links

• The Official Crystal Lewis Website
• The Official Metro One Website
• Crystal Lewis on MySpace