Just last summer award-winning singer Nona Brown made history when she became the first Black woman to be elected President of the San Francisco Chapter of the Recording Academy. Leading with value, she would go on to introduce i3 to inspire, inform, and include. Her goal is for membership to increase with strong engagement and involvement from its members.
“As a member of almost 14 years, I didn’t always feel included. When I became president, I wanted to make an effort to make sure our members felt included. We inspire our membership by creating various networking opportunities as well as the celebration of Grammy nominees from our chapter. We inform and support initiatives that serve music creators and professionals. We include by encouraging participation in various chapter events, national campaigns, and invitations to serve on a chapter’s committee, one of the things we introduced when I started,” Brown tells SHEEN.
In addition to making history, Brown shares another music industry milestone this year. She released a live gospel album titled, “Songs from my Journal Vol. 2,” in August. “Some of these songs were songs that I wrote 20 years ago and never recorded,” says Brown.
“My favorite song on my latest album is “Worship is Everything.” To be able to live my life in reverence to a higher calling is everything to me. It brings me peace, direction, and it brings me purpose,” she added.
Known for her smooth and unconventional style, fans call Brown “A Breath of Fresh Air.” Her first album “I’ll Sing My Song” debuted in 1997. Then after writing music for years, in 2019 Brown released her sophomore album “Songs from my Journal Vol. 1”. The album went on to rank at #14 and #21 in its first and second weeks on the Billboard charts.
For Brown, the scripture “your latter days will be greater than your former days” took on a whole new meaning this year. Brown was an arranger and background vocalist on the 2022 Grammy Award Winning Best Children’s Album by Falu “A Colorful World.” She also brought home a Telly Award for her “Black Lives Matter” music video co-written with Tony Saunders.
Brown’s impressions on her fans are deep and long-lasting as her original, sweet and silky sound continues to resonate worldwide.
For more updates, Follow Nona Brown on IG @nonalisabrown.
Photos/Images by: Korise Jubert
What an inspiration she is to those of us that know and love her. She truly is a gift from above. She will definitely take the academy to higher ground.