Gospel Star Yolanda Adams Addresses Backlash for Wearing Form-Fitting Clothes: 'Cut It Out' (Exclusive)

Yolanda Adams opens up about her experiences with beauty standards and style.

In an exclusive conversation with PEOPLE about her new album Sunny daysThe 63-year-old platinum-selling singer recalled some of the criticism she’s received over the years for her sense of style. Growing up, Adams says she never had any creative limitations in her faith-based household.

Yolanda Adams during the 34th Annual Dove Awards.

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“Because of the way I was raised in this very free-spirited family where everyone had their own voice and everyone had their own talents, I didn’t feel any need to be anyone other than Yolanda,” Adams says. “And that was very evident, not only in music, but also in fashion.”

In the world of gospel and contemporary Christian music, female artists are especially encouraged and often expected to dress modestly. But when fashion trends began to shift away from baggy, looser styles to more form-fitting clothing during her rise to the mainstream in the ’90s and early 2000s, Adams found her taste evolving. And given her svelte 6-foot frame and “free-spirited” upbringing, that should come as no surprise.

Smokey Robinson and Yolanda Adams host the 2001 Soul Train Christmas Starfest.

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“Because I don’t have the typical body of a gospel singer, I think it was easy for me to just pick what I wanted and then just wear what I wanted,” Adams explains. “Again, I didn’t grow up in a household where we had rules about what we could wear, what we couldn’t wear, what we could listen to, what we couldn’t listen to in my family.”

In 2001, Adams released her seventh studio album believe. On the album’s front cover, Adams is photographed in a striking electric blue GiGi Hunter dress. Paired with regal accessories and a plunging neckline, the crochet dress accentuates her model figure. Although the album was well received by fans, achieving gold status the following year, the album cover caused shockwaves in the religious community.

Yolanda Adams ‘Believe.’.

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But Adams says people eventually got around to it — even if they were a little amnesiac about the cover.

“I didn’t know there was ‘you can’t wear this’ and ‘you shouldn’t wear that’ and ‘you have to cover your head’ and things like that,” Adams recalls. “So when people started saying, ‘I don’t know about that [dress],’ well…okay. And now suddenly, these are the same people who are now fans. And they will say ‘I’ve been with her since day one.’ No, you didn’t. Stop it. Because I remember!”

Opponents weren’t the only ones who noticed Adams’ beauty and style. Fans on the Internet like to call her “Thee Gospel Stallion” (the playbook also features a statue of Megan Thee Stallion), and her peers have come to her defense.

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Yolanda Adams sings a moving rendition of ‘America the Beautiful’ to open the 2020 Super Bowl.

Following criticism over her cleavage-baring dress for the 2016 Stellar Awards, fellow gospel artist Erica Campbell — one half of the famed duo Mary Mary — took to X to show her support for Adams, writing, “Did the saints really have a problem with Yolanda Adams’ dress on Stellars,” followed by, “we must focus on our souls and not get caught up in the person’s exterior.”

Just three years earlier, Adams had offered Campbell the same support when Campbell faced fierce opposition over her own white, hip-length dress.

Steve Harvey also spoke of Adams’ physical beauty, famously joking, “Yolanda sho’ is sexy” at the 2005 Gospel Celebration. He captured this controversial moment in his 2006 documentary comedy Don’t trip, he’s not done with me yet.

And while the faith-based crowd may have found the compliment silly, Adams, who calls Harvey her “brother,” took it in jest and calm.

“For him to say that, I knew he was joking. I knew he was joking – says Adams. “But when he said that, it surprised me, but then I started reading what people were saying, you know, commenting on it.

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“It’s like, ‘yeah, she sho’ is fine. I wish she was my wife.’ No!” she continues with a laugh. “Things like that. And then, of course, you had the ones that [said]’well, I don’t know how to dress with off shoulders and stuff.’ Ma’am, this is the Shrine Auditorium. It’s not the Third Baptist Church on the other side of Ecclesiastes Road.”

Ultimately, Adams wants everyone to engage, exchange, and exist without judgment.

“I thank God for the way I was raised because I don’t have those constraints and I don’t put them on anyone else. When I see you, I see this loving spirit. And that’s the way I want to live my life.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education