Shirley sings for Hope
SHIRLEY Willis, one of the voices that took gospel music to the mainstream, makes another major local appearance since recovering from a life-threatening mishap, today, at the All For The Family show at Hope Botanical Gardens.
Willis is a member of Thrillers United, the group she helped form after leaving the mega-successful Grace Thrillers.
Willis defied the odds when she survived a monthlong coma after a near-fatal auto accident in June, 2008.
She said the experience has empowered her even more, and she is fired up to share her powerful testimony.
“You can look for jubilee. I am really coming back to full health and getting better every day. I know that God is gonna use me all over the world,” she told the Jamaica Observer.
“God is so good. He is marvellous to bring me back. I am feeling so good,” Willis said.
Willis performed at a Jamaica 50 gospel concert in the Cayman Islands on the weekend. She was presented with a plaque for her service to the ministry.
Willis joined the Grace Thrillers in the early 1980s. Her distinct sound can be heard on many of the group’s biggest songs such as By the Grace of God I Am Saved, Can’t Even Walk, Oh What a Sunrise, Jesus and Not My Will.
Can’t Even Walk and Jesus gained strong airplay even at hardcore dancehall sessions. The group’s mainstream success opened doors for gospel artistes in the 1990s.
Other artistes expected at this evening’s concert include Jabez, Noreta Lewis and Dunamis Reignz.