Jaci velasquez

At 28 years of age, Jaci Velasquez is one of the world’s most successful Christian/Latin/pop singers with album sales in excess of 3.5 million. Jaci grew up in Houston, Texas and began travelling and singing with her family when she was 9 years old. At the age of 14, she signed to Myrrh Records. She recorded her first album aged 16 in 1996. A successful stream of albums followed in English and Spanish.

Jaci tells Challenge readers about her journey from child star to wife and mother. Her latest release Love Out Loud is Jaci’s 13th record and debut release on her self-owned Apostrophe Records. Why Apostrophe? ‘It means “adding to” or the possessive of something. In this case, to me, it meant that as a label we weren’t going to try to change an artist or what their ministry was about, we wanted to add to what they were already doing, to help them expand their ministry and reach more people with their music.’

‘It was a very different experience. It was like I was responsible for everything, from the creativity to the outsourcing for publicity or marketing.’ So it’s all been very hands on for her as she co-wrote most of the songs too. ‘English is definitely my first language but to sing in Spanish,’ says Jaci, ‘it’s a romantic beautiful, language.

She married Nic Gonzales the frontman for the band Salvador, in December, 2006. Their love is reflected in the duet Tango on her new album. Though Nic is no dancer according to his wife, Jaci says, ‘Every marriage has its own distinct dance. Mine is the Tango. I love the dance and I love the man! ‘Our marriage is like the tango, push and pull, give and take, compromising. Because we are very Latin, we are very passionate about it.’

Jaci says of the track Love Out Loud, ‘I think the title says it all. Many of us talk about changing the world. I hope this song becomes a banner for everyone who has chosen to show God’s love through serving others.’

Jaci is currently partnering with both the Christian charities Compassion and Feed the Children in an effort to put her words into action. Jaci sponsors a child in Peru through Compassion who she hopes to visit soon. She is keen to share her experiences with others. ‘I’m giving away mission trips to Honduras. It’s something that’s important to me. I’m doing it with my own money and I want people to see it firsthand.’ You can check her website for more details.

‘I guess I’m not as neat and organised as I thought I was. I did really love having sleep – but I don’t really get it any more! You can’t be selfish when you’ve got a baby.’ Jaci loves the UK and spent a year studying in London following a particularly stressful time in her life. ‘I properly lived in England. What happened was I sold my house, my cars – everything – the only thing I had left were my clothes. I moved over and got an apartment. I went to language school in London. I travelled throughout the country – it was the best experience of my life! Between the Indian take-out and Topshop, what more could you want!

‘Then finally I realised one day that I was running away from life and I missed my mother.’ She went back to her singing career, a new love and family life. So how will she manage touring with a new baby and husband? ‘I’m going to take my mother for some of the dates. I’m going to walk to the stage and hand Nic baby Zealand as he comes off. It’s like a cute little family event!’