Top Gospel Singer Songwriter Tasha Cobbs Leonard Talks Staying Inspired Amidst A Pandemic, Her New Album Royalty: Live At The Ryman Debuting At Number One, Connecting With Ciara For “In Spite Of Me” And Branching Outside Of Gospel To Build A Business Empire.

Tasha Cobbs Leonard is by far one of the most successful contemporary gospel artists of our time. With over 2 billion streams, one platinum record and two gold, The Grammy winner leads the gospel category among current artists. Her songs of inspiration and hope have led a new generation in navigating the ups and downs of life and now a pandemic. Her new album Royalty: Live At The Ryman, which was written before the COVID-19 pandemic is the first Christian gospel worship album to be recorded at the historic Nashville music hall—The Ryman.

Debuting at number one on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart, Cobbs Leonard, recorded the 17-track album live during the time of the pandemic making the music especially poignant during these challenging times. Although she recorded without a live audience present, Cobbs recalls imagining each person that she was singing to and what they could possibly experiencing in this season. Tracks like You’re Gonna Get The Glory challenge listeners not to be distraught by all that is going on but to lean into hope. With lyrics like

“And I’m not moved by what I see

Your hand is moving

I know You’re using this

I’ll live to sing Your victory

‘Cause You’re gonna get the glory

You’re gonna get the glory out of this.”

The project also includes six compelling live performance videos, including the electrifying album opener “You’re Gonna Get The Glory” and the show-stopping duet “You Must Break,” featuring powerhouse vocalist and longtime collaborator Kierra Sheard.

Cobbs Leonard also recently stunned fans with the release of “In Spite of Me,” featuring platinum-selling superstar Ciara, available now. “Tasha is one of the strongest voices in gospel music and we’ve always been huge fans of hers in our house. In times like these, I am super thrilled to be part of a song filled with messages of hope and inspiration that can be shared with the world. With God’s love and grace, nothing in life is insurmountable. It’s truly a special moment,” Ciara said in a statement.

The song’s lyrics celebrate God’s perfect love for imperfect people:

“Every scar, every flaw,

You see it all, You see it all /

You still love me, love me, in spite of me.”

And Tasha Cobbs Leonard isn’t just leading the Gospel charts she’s also branched out in to business with an athleisure line for curvy women and an eyeglass line. I caught up with the powerhouse vocalist to talk about all of this and more.  

There is so much going on in our world with Social justice issues, the pandemic and politics. What is something you are grateful for right now despite it all?

Tasha Cobbs Leonard: I am grateful for family. I’m grateful for the prayers and support of my family, my loved ones, I think it’s very important to be surrounded by people who push you and support you. And they understand what you are called to do, I think is extremely important. I think it’s important for people to have people in [their] life who can push you, you know, on those days, when you woke up ready and then some something just happens. You know, on those days, you’re feeling less motivated. I think it’s great to have people around you who can rehearse to you, Hey, this is what you’re called to do. This is who you are, this is what you’re great at. This is what you’re awesome at. We support you. We do run into those days where you just feel like, ah, I don’t feel like doing this. I don’t feel like getting up, you know, you are less motivated. But I think it’s great to have those people who push you. And it may not be everybody, but to have one or two people in your life who call at the right time. And I believe that God will show you who those people are. I really do.

Your new album just debuted at #1. Please say more about making this masterpiece.

Tasha Cobbs Leonard: This was the first Christian gospel worship album that’s ever been recorded at the Ryman. So it’s a history maker. Of course, we know the Ryman theater in Nashville is a historic theater. You know, one of the things that I learned in recording this is that it was built originally as a cathedral; it was rebuilt as a revival center. You can really sense that the historic, just the class the of that the room itself, it matches, royalty, you know, the theme of the album. So you just feel that even though the room was empty, we recorded a live album, in a theater of nothing but an audience of one. That’s what I called, it was absolutely phenomenal. Just to be in that room, with the historic potency that was in there. It’s just incredible.

Due to COVID-19 you had to record live with no audience present. What was that like?

Tasha Cobbs Leonard: So one of the joys of my life is to lead worship, you know, with a crowd of people. I don’t care if its 10 people or 10,000. It is my joy to watch people experience God, you know, in a place of worship. And I think all of those experiences throughout the years have taught me that people don’t necessarily have to be in the room with me, for me to be able to speak to them. And so while I was up leading, I really felt like I could see the person in their car riding listening to the song or the person sitting in their living room with their children listening to these songs, and I was leading that person. So no, there weren’t 2500 people in the room, but I saw the millions of people who I will be leading, and they may not be in the Ryman, but they’re up there. They hear the sound of my worship, and they’re hearing me lead them in worship.

You and Kierra Sheard are long time collaborators. Was it different working together during a pandemic and in an empty space where there would usually be an audience?

Tasha Cobbs Leonard: I tell everybody, she’s my favorite vocalist. Hands down. The girl can just sing anything. I mean, if it’s gospel, if it’s pop, if it’s rock, whatever, she can do it. Her voice is so versatile. But on top of that, she has the personality to match. She is one of the most humble, people that I have ever met. She’s one of my best friends. And then there’s just this chemistry we have. We can’t explain it. Now people say all the time, ‘when are you going to do an album together.’ It’s like this anticipation. Now. Each time one of us records they’re waiting. We’re waiting. When we get together Kierra had just finished her world tour. It was a virtual tour that she did. She was tired.

But you know, she was like, I’ve never told my sister no, I’m on the way. And when she got there, you know, she was tired. But when we got on the stage, the energy, the chemistry, you could just sense it. And, I mean, it just is what it is. I think it’s just something special that God has given me and Kiki. We know that our followers love it. And we’ll keep doing it because we love it too.

Listening to the lyrics of Royalty. It really is an affirmation against systemic oppression and racism. To say that, you know what, you can say one thing about me, but God said that I’m fearfully and wonderfully made. Did you intend that? Do you feel that way?

Tasha Cobbs Leonard: Absolutely. I think that song, I have another song. It’s called, you know, my name. Yeah. And that song, these two just kind of match. Because sometimes you just need that reminder that no matter what people say about you, no matter what the statistics say, no matter what it looks like, this is what God says about you. And this is who he sees you as, 2020 has been a year of challenge. It’s been a year of stretching. Um, I believe people are more creative now than we’ve ever been in our lives. You know, that’s a great thing. We have to face some of the things that we’ve been able to ignore, I believe, with the social injustice that we’re seeing. It’s, always been underlying, but we’ve been so busy as a nation, that we have been able to ignore it. But now it’s in our faces. Everybody’s sitting at home, and you have to see that this is true. This is happening to this culture of people, and we have to address it, we can no longer ignore that. I think that is a blessing that has come from this pandemic. 

Was that on your mind when you were recording this album?

Tasha Cobbs Leonard: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I thought about those who may be suffering with depression in the season.  It could be easy to fall into depression, if you’re not aware that you’re royalty, and that this season is not going to kill you. It’s not going to. God is enough. And I think that those were some of the reminders that when they listen to this, I saw that person, you know, who was sitting home thinking, Oh, my God, how am I going to take care of my children next week? Or how am I going to provide food and shelter for my children, I see the songs being that refresher that moment where they can take a breath and say, but God is still God. And if he, if he came through for me before, he’s going to come through again. That is the encouragement that I want people to receive.

There’s a song [on the album] that I love. My husband and I went through something that was so so very hard, right before we recorded this album, and this was one of the songs that blesses me. It’s called Get the glory. And the song just says, You’re Going To get the glory even out of this.  We have to remind ourselves that, you know, this situation may be hard for you. But everything is easy for Jesus,

How do you get through tough times? Do you have a spiritual practice? How are you managing during the Pandemic?

Tasha Cobbs Leonard: One thing that I love to share is, we have access to these all day long all day long, you know, so we’re busy, we’re getting ready for work, getting ready to take care of the kids. Some of us have become teachers overnight, you know, and all of these things are like, I’m so busy. When can I find time to just meditate on scripture on the Word of God? Well, I have adopted, you know, just playing the Bible. I play the Bible while I’m getting dressed. And you’ll be surprised the many you hear the same scriptures over and over. But sometimes I get revelation from a fresh revelation from scripture I’ve heard over and over just by listening or hearing the Word of God. So you may not have time to sit down with your Bible, you know, and just read, but you have time to play it while you’re getting dressed while you’re on your commute to work. I just play the Scripture. And that is one of the main practices that I use that has been so beneficial to me maintaining my spiritual growth.

You’re not only topping the gospel charts you are also building a body positive business empire. Is that right?

Tasha Cobbs Leonard: I do have Curve athletics. It’s a funny story. When Beyoncè first came out with Ivy Park, they [release] their new collections at midnight, and I’m a plus size girl we all see. I love myself. You know, it took me years to get here, but I’m there and I love myself. And I take care of myself. I believe in exercise. I believe in eating right. Some of us just are chubby girls and that’s all right. At midnight, they were released Ivy Park, and every single time I would miss the double legs, so they only had a few double legs that they would release. And so the last time it happened I was like you know what I’m going to do my own athletic wear and I just said it just like that and then giggled, laughed it off, but I could not shake it.

The Bible says you have whatsoever you say and so when we say things they manifest in our life and I just could not live that down. And so I started doing research asking different plus size girls, hey, ‘what are some of the things that agitate you about the activewear we have now.’ One of the things that was consistent is that they, they roll down, you can’t keep them up, they don’t fit, right. So I just started doing all of this research. I reached out to some manufacturers reached out to Kiki, actually who has a plus size line, and I started asking her some questions. And I found a manufacturer, and we released our first collection. And people just started jumping on it. And so now we have curve athletics and it is really, really growing. I love, love, love, love it.

We also have Fritz eyewear, which is eyewear that’s named after my father. My father passed away six years ago. He was our pastor. He would do this thing at the end of our services, where everybody will stand up for the benediction. And he would always say, love everybody. And so a few years ago, probably four years ago, I was thinking what can I do to honor my dad, our family loves glasses. And so I thought, well, then I could do an eyewear line that honors him. And the theme of it is to love everybody through the lens, like the lens of my father. So he loved on everybody. So I literally pray over every every frame. I’m very involved. My husband and I, we do shipping, we are answering emails, you know, I believe in building from the ground up. Business is one of my passions. I’m passionate. I’m an entrepreneur. I love it.