Sheléa on faith, music legends and her new Christmas single

Sheléa has built a career that reads like a dream for any artist who grew up singing in church. The singer, songwriter, pianist, producer and actress has performed at the White House, the Vatican and Carnegie Hall. She has collaborated with Stevie Wonder, learned from Quincy Jones, and portrayed Dorinda Clark-Cole in Lifetime’s acclaimed biopic about the Clark Sisters. Now she is adding to the holiday music canon with her new single “Want This Christmas With You” while preparing to release her full “Spirit” album in 2025.

How did you get your start in music and decide to pursue it as a career?

I grew up in a very musical family, so music has always been a part of my life. But I honestly thought I would only use it in church like I saw my parents do. It wasn’t until I graduated from college that things shifted. I was in a girls’ group trying to get a record deal, and even though that didn’t pan out, it gave me my first taste of being in the studio, writing and producing.

I ended up graduating from Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama with a degree in music and piano. After that, I started writing, not even being the artist. I met Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and they became like my musical godfathers. I was part of the Flyte Tyme family, wrote for Chanté Moore, Vanessa Williams, and I wrote the theme song for the movie “Jumping the Broom,” “Love Fell on Me.” God just kept putting me in positions where I was kind of out front.

How did you end up working with Stevie Wonder?

I was on this album called “The Standard” by Take 6, and I was singing “Someone to Watch Over Me” with the late Roy Hargrove. Stevie got a hold of the album, and he wanted to meet me. It was this beautiful instant connection. I ended up doing his annual Christmas show, House Full of Toys. We have just been so close ever since. I just went on tour with him last fall, which was this beautiful full circle moment because 10 years before that, I had sang background for him. But last fall on his tour, he allowed me to be his special guest. Stevie was very instrumental in me performing at the White House the first time.

Tell us about your new holiday single “Want This Christmas With You.”

I love Christmas, and I love Christmas music. I wanted to just add something to the playlist, something that’s going to make people feel happy, dance around. Davy Nathan, a wonderful friend and collaborator, we wrote this song together. We just want to make people feel good, and it’s kind of a continuation because I just dropped an EP in August called “Spirit.” It’s like a retro soul album.

I wanted it to feel joyful, but it’s also got this little sexy thing to it because the story is about this person that just wants to finally take that leap and tell somebody how they’ve been feeling. They finally have the courage to say, listen, I want this Christmas with you.

What does it mean to you to have a song that could live in family traditions forever?

That’s every songwriter’s dream. There’s nothing more magical than singing a song and seeing everybody singing along with you. They know the lyrics, the runs, the melody. Just thinking that this could still be around beyond my life, that would be the biggest honor. I know that it’s so hard to add new Christmas songs because Christmas is so personal, and everybody has a nostalgic memory attached to these songs. I understand that those songs are their own thing, but I would love for mine to also be included.

I have another song that I wrote last year called “First Christmas Without You” because there’s a demographic that gets ignored during this time. There’s a group of people who are grieving. Sometimes you need to hear that song just to help you remember someone that you once loved during the holidays.

How do you protect your sound while evolving as an artist?

I have always listened to everything. I grew up in a pretty traditional Christian home, so I actually could only listen to gospel growing up. A lot of Clark Sisters, the Winans, Yolanda Adams. But when I was a girl, I was also playing classical music. I remember a field trip to the symphony, and all the kids were bored out of their minds, but I was just on the edge of my seat.

I always tell people, listen to everything because it really helps you create your own sound. Sometimes I’ll listen to nothing but country music. Sometimes I’ll listen to nothing but classical. Of course, gospel is part of my DNA, R&B as well. When you listen to everything, it broadens your perspective, so then it helps you create such a specific and tailor made lane for yourself.

I’ve been compared to Whitney Houston because I studied her. I’ve been compared to Aretha because I’ve studied her. Chaka Khan, Natalie Cole, all those people I studied. But if you listen to all of them, they all have a very different perspective. Whitney listened to Aretha. Aretha listened to Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan. Everybody’s heroes had a hero.

What responsibility did you feel stepping into Aretha Franklin’s legacy with your PBS special?

Legacy is the key word. She literally has made herself immortal by just simply using her God given gift. I felt the enormity of that. It started in 2022 when Jules Buckley and I curated this show that we debuted at the Royal Albert Hall in London. I’ve been touring this show in Europe for the last couple years. But I said, Aretha was an American artist, and we got to bring this show here. PBS was kind enough to film it.

I just wanted to tell her story because Aretha was a musician. She was a songwriter, she was a producer. There was no genre that could claim her. When she first started, she was doing all of these standards, these jazz standards. Of course, we’ve got to do “Respect” and “Natural Woman.” But there’s so much more to her than that. We do her version of “Skylark.” It wasn’t until she came into her own, when she sat at the piano and was leading the band, that’s when the hits started to flow. What I love about this show is that it really shows the depth and everything that she was.

How did honoring Aretha change you as an artist?

She’s always been a part of my journey. She’s just unapologetically soulful. She’s going to “Arethafy” whatever she chooses to sing. I think for me, it’s just given me even more confidence to just unapologetically be myself. I’m not always going to be what people expect, but I’m going to be me.

When Davy and I were creating the “Spirit” EP, which I’m going to release the full album next year, I remember singing “Chain of Fools,” and I’m like, I want a song that feels like that. A lot of that went into how we wrote the songs for this record. There’s a particular song called “Never Give Up on Love.” I believe that’s a song that today Aretha would like. She definitely influences me and continues to do so.

What did you learn from portraying Dorinda Clark-Cole in the Clark Sisters biopic?

When you watch the film, you see it, maybe, cost their mother her marriage because of what God put on her heart. There’s a point in the movie where she’s not allowed to perform with them anymore because she sang with them on the Grammys. The church establishment thought that was inappropriate. There was a sacrifice, but it was not in vain.

I think the very fact that we see them all these decades later still doing what they’re doing at such a high level, it’s just a reminder that what you do for God will last. The way that they were raised by their mother made every difference. Look at all the groups that have come and gone. They’re still here.

How did you prepare to play Dorinda?

This was one of the first times in my life where I just dug my heels in and did the work. I was listening, looking up all of the videos I could find of her on YouTube, her speaking voice, how she held her mic. I had been listening to the Clark Sisters my whole life, but they really sing so much as one. Dorinda had her leads, so I was able to look at that. Then I went to her own records, her individual records.

Donald Lawrence was telling me how I have a lot more bottom in my voice, and hers is more like it shoots out like a horn. Her attack is very focused, it’s got this rasp, but it’s very clear. It’s very unique. I really dug in and studied her preaching, her movements, how she kind of moves.

How does stepping into acting roles deepen your ability to tell stories through music?

When I first got into acting, for the first time, I can’t tell when I’m doing well. I can’t tell when I’m doing bad. I just had no frame of reference. It was the most unnerving feeling I have ever felt in my entire life.

I got this incredible acting coach, Jossie Harris, and she said, “Sheléa, you’ve been acting your whole life. Every time you get on stage, you were acting, you were telling a story. You were just using notes instead of only words. So all you have to do is just be.”

It’s so crazy because it all melded together to where my acting was helping my singing. Then I realized that the acting and singing together, that’s what prepared me for Broadway. Broadway is the last real thing we got. You got one take. That’s it. It really made me so much more present and more grounded.

What do you hope young Black girls understand about patience, preparation and purpose?

Butterflies are my very favorite thing because they remind me that beautiful transformations take time. What you’re looking at is not what you’re always going to be. There’s times that you are going to second guess yourself. Especially in this industry, there’s a lot of rejection. But if you know who you are, and you know that you are so unique, and like a butterfly, that you will continue to evolve, you’re just on this journey. It’s never the end. You are always going somewhere if you choose that.

I would just say, make sure it’s what you love because I think the love is what has allowed me to keep my joy after so many years. I still feel like that little girl going to the symphony at 8 years old. Sometimes you can be very talented, but you don’t love it. For this industry, make sure you love it. Just remember that you will always make something beautiful. Just give yourself time. Time doesn’t exist in heaven with God, so it shouldn’t exist to you. Just stay in it, and just continue to create. You’ll be alright.

Is there a scripture that you lean into for strength and guidance?

For some reason, the one that just popped up is, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” What my journey continues to remind me is that God is in control. It has been God who has been allowing me to meet all these incredible people, to build these relationships, to be able to go to the White House and the Vatican. God has been orchestrating this beautiful path I’ve been on, and has continued to strengthen me when I’ve been tired and weak and sometimes a little frustrated. God has truly been the source of my strength.

Sheléa’s new single “Want This Christmas With You” and her “Spirit” EP are available on all streaming platforms. Follow her on Instagram @sheleamusic and find her as SheleaMusic on all other platforms.