HOUSTON – The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo announced Tuesday that Lauren Daigle will make her Houston Rodeo debut on March 2.
Have you heard of her? Some in our newsroom knew her well while others hadn’t heard of her. But then you start playing the music and realize, oh yeah, I’ve heard her for sure. Nice putting songs to a face, no?
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Here are nine things to know about the Christian singer as Houston looks ahead to 2023 and her first performance on the RodeoHouston stage:
1. Lauren Daigle is a two-time Grammy, seven-time Billboard Music Award and a four-time American Music Award winner.
2. Daigle’s platinum debut album, “How Can It Be,” produced three number one songs, “First,” “O’Lord” and the Grammy-nominated “Trust in You.” Her sophomore release is called “Look Up Child.”
3. In 2018, Daigle established the Price Fund, a global foundation dedicated to helping those in need through community initiatives and outreach. According to her website, the Price Fund has worked with amongst others, the Ellis Marsalis Center, Young Audiences of Louisiana Charter School, Roots of Music, Kid Smart, and The New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. In a 2020 partnership with Love Does, the Price Fund announced the construction of a school in the Congo, which will serve more than 300 children in Goma, a conflict zone near the border of Rwanda.
4. Daigle is 31 years old and lives in Louisiana. She was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and grew up in Lafayette.
5. Daigle’s first job was babysitting at 11 years old. She has made smoothies at Smoothie King and worked in a bakery making king cakes.
6. Daigle is friends with Selena Gomez through text messages and voice memos.
7. Daigle told Billboard in 2018 that people should listen to her music because it’s about “hope and unity” in a world where “people want to have love (and truth) to hold onto.”
“They want to be able to sit next to someone and not feel like everyone is a stranger in the world,” she told Billboard.
8. Guideposts shared Daigle’s story in 2019. When Daigle was 15, she was diagnosed with an immune deficiency that kept her housebound for nearly two years. During that time of solitude, Daigle said she used the time to read her devotional, journal, pray -- and find her way into the music industry.
“I thought ‘I’m just losing it. I’m getting cabin fever,’” Daigle said. “But (God) assured me, ‘No, this is what I have in store.’ And as I just started drawing closer and closer to God, he started affirming me.”
9. Daigle had a stint on “American Idol.” Here’s her introduction video. Here’s a look back at her appearances on the show (she was eliminated multiple times), including her mentorship on the program.
10. She completed two years at Louisiana State University, joined a band and eventually signed as a solo artist.
11. Her current label, Centricity Music, is a contemporary Christian music record label based in Washington with artists including Jordan Feliz, Jason Gray, North Point Worship and Andrew Peterson.