BY PHIL CUSTODIO
Clarkston News Editor
Sandi Patty, highly awarded contemporary Christian music singer, presents her upcoming Forever Grateful World Tour with special guests Veritas, Friday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m., at Mt. Zion Church, 4900 Maybee Road.
The 90-city worldwide tour is the final large-scale solo tour of her career.
“We have three grandkids now and that just changes the playing field in a really sweet way,” she said in a phone interview, Oct. 11. “I turn 60 this year and I want to be able to say thank you and good bye in the way that is mindful of the art form.”
Forever Grateful: The Farewell Tour will journey across the country and world. Patty will be joined on stage by members of her family, singing some of her favorite and notable songs of her career and reminiscing through her 30-year career.
“It’s really sweet to see my kids on stage, some of whom have grown up on the road with me,” she said. “ Some are singing with me, some of them are working behind the scenes.”
Special guest Veritas also adds a lot to the concert, Patty said.
“They are just like five Josh Grobans in the same group,” she said.
To showcase her career, her team put together lots of classic songs and videos to share.
“It’s really a journey through a lot of different hairstyles,” Patty said. “I’ll miss just getting to go to the beautiful places I’ve gotten to go to over the years, meeting all the people, seeing part of our world I wouldn’t have been able to see, and doing a lot of that with my family.”
Tickets are $100 Platinum, $45 Premium, $25 General Admission, $18.50 Groups 10+ at Mt. Zion in Independence Township.
“There’s nothing like Michigan people, when they are with you and support you,” Patty said. “We love getting up into that area for sure and definitely feel very loved.”
She kicked off her career in 1986 with her rendition of The Star Spangled Banner during the rededication of the Statue of Liberty.
“I had recorded a project for the Ellis Island Foundation, which several other artists were on,” she said. “I was asked to sing a new version of the Star Spangled Banner. I didn’t think there would be any more to that. I was watching the Statue of Liberty celebration at home just like everybody else when all of a sudden my music came on and it was like, wait a second. It opened some very unexpected doors.”
Since then, she has earned five Grammy awards, four Billboard Music Awards, three platinum records, five gold records, and 40 Dove Awards.
She was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2004 and as an Indiana Living Legend in 2007. She has released over 30 albums, including her latest album, Forever Grateful (2016) and Everlasting (2013), which was nominated for a Dove Award for Inspirational Album of the Year in 2014 .
“I’ve always loved music and I’ve always loved being able to just sort of share my heart in song,” she said. “I’m the proudest of my kids and my family. Seeing a lot of them settle in music now is really special. They have their own footsteps but it’s neat to see their own love for the arts and for music.”
In more recent years, she has extended her career outside Christian music. Her debut full length symphonic pops album Broadway Stories, conducted by Maestro Jack Everly, was released on Oct. 18, 2011.
She has performed with symphonies across the country, including the New York Pops, Boston Pops, Cincinnati Pops, Dallas Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Houston Symphony, and Oklahoma City Philharmonic. She also headlined the title role in sold out performances of the musical “Hello, Dolly!” with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, co-starring Gary Beach, in January 2012.
The singer is also an accomplished author. For the bestseller “Broken on the Back Row,” Patty received the 2006 Silver Angel Award. As an author of seven books, her other titles include “Life in the Blender,” “Falling Forward,” “Layers,” and her forthcoming book, “The Edge of the Divine.” Her down-to-earth style and sturdy common sense have endeared her to Women of Faith audiences, with whom she has traveled since 2005. After the tour, she will probably stay involved in music, she said.
“Teaching, mentoring, and those grandkids I can’t wait to spend a whole lot of time with – a little bit of everything,” she said.
Patty and her husband, Don, have eight children. They currently reside in Oklahoma City, Okla. Check www.sandipatty.com and www.premier productions.com/tour/sandi-patty-forever-grateful-farewell-tour, or call 336-887-3582.