Mandisa, who started on “American Idol” and won a Grammy, has died. She was 47.
“We can confirm that yesterday Mandisa was found in her home deceased,” her representative said to NBC News. “At this time we do not know the cause of death or any further details.”
“We ask for your prayers for her family and close knit circle of friends during this incredibly difficult time,” the statement said.
The singer was found dead in her Nashville home, according to The Tennessean.
“Mandisa was a voice of encouragement and truth to people facing life’s challenges all around the world. She wrote this song for a dear friend who had passed in 2017,” according to a post on her Facebook page.
“Her own words say it best. I’m already home / You’ve got to lay it down / ‘cause Jesus holds me now— / And I am not alone.”
Mandisa’s full name was Mandisa Lynn Hundley. She placed ninth on “American Idol” and won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album in 2014 for her album “Overcomer.”
Mandisa’s talked to “Good Morning America” about a dark time in her life when her friend Lakisha Mitchell died of breast cancer in 2014.
“It got pretty bad — to the point where if I had not gotten off that road I would not be sitting here today,” Mandisa said. “I was this close to listening to that voice that told me, ‘You can be with Jesus right now, Mandisa. All you have to do is take your life.’”
“It almost happened. But God is what I say. He saved my life quite literally,” she said.
