Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Her audition: Sandy Redd, 35, of Chicago, Ill., auditioned with “River” by Bishop Briggs, immediately showing off impressive vocals and stage presence. Adam Levine and Jennifer Hudson turned quickly; before the performance ended, Kelly Clarkson and Blake Shelton had joined them, giving Sandy just the third four-chair turn of Season 15. Jennifer threw both shoes as a compliment, but Sandy joined Team Kelly.

Her background: Sandy is one of eight children and says her mom was an amazing singer. When they were old enough, the children became mom’s background singers. At 17, Sandy gave birth to her first son. As a result, she says music fell to the wayside. But shortly after the birth of Sandy’s second son, her mom died. Sandy says that made her feel that life is short, and she decided to pour her heart into her music. In her mother’s honor, she’s also started a summer program that teaches music.

On picking Kelly as her coach: “I felt everything Kelly was saying to me. She mentioned the rock and the soul that she felt coming from me, and my genre is rock-soul. And the fact that she said that she didn’t care who I picked because she just wanted to see me move on in the show just showed me that she was coming from a very genuine, very selfless place.”

What the show didn’t show:

* A native of Chicago, she identifies herself on Facebook as singer, songwriter and actress.

* As a performer, she has opened for 50 Cent, R Kelly, Miquel, Chaka Khan, Angie Stone and many others, according to her website bio.

* In 2017, she released a six-song project called “Redd Fever” of what she describes as rock-soul music. Standout tracks include “Hard to Love” and “You Through Me.” Check out the latter below.

* That year, she also won radio station WGCI’s “Kick Start Your Dreams…Next To Blow Out of Chicago” contest.

* Earlier this year, she was nominated “R&B Entertainer of the Year” for the 37th Annual Chicago Music Awards.

* She’s also branched out into musical theater in Chicago, performing the lead role of Dorothy in The Whiz and Tina Turner in an Ike & Tina Turner revue.

* More recently, she performed in “Jesus Christ Superstar” this spring at the Lyric Opera House in Chicago.

* Her mother was the late Margaret Owens Bussie and the performing arts youth organization Sandy started in her honor is called “Mama’s Birds.” She formed it in 2010 to give children in Chicago a chance to explore their creativity during the summer. Among the activities: lessons in singing, songwriting and stage presence.

* In the aforementioned interview, Sandy explains that her mom always wanted to start a performing arts school. She always called the children she taught “her little bird babies, mama’s birds,” hence the name for the summer program.

Her social media links:
Instagram
Website
Twitter: @SandyReddMusic
Facebook
YouTube