“Slow down,
breathe in,
don’t move ahead
I’m just living in this moment”
During the incredible space flight of Artemis II, the astronauts were able to select songs to start their day. Mandisa’s “Good Morning” was a unanimous choice by the crew once presented. On the sixth day of the mission, the crew woke up to this song and a recorded message from former NASA astronaut Jim Lovell, who flew on the Apollo 8 and Apollo 13 missions. He passed in 2025, but recorded the message before his death.
Today is two years since the world lost Mandisa Lyn Hundley at the age of 47. Mandisa was an American Idol contestant in the fifth season of the show, but her time on the show launched her career more for her actions than for her voice, which, in my humble opinion, is one of the most exquisite female voices of the 21st century to this point.
No, it wasn’t singing that shone the light strongly on Mandisa. Mandisa stood 5-foot-4, and she reported that she struggled with food addiction her entire life, spending all of her adult life at more than 200 pounds, and much of it above the 300-pound mark.
Idol judge Simon Cowell commented on her weight in the preliminary portion of the competition, taking a few cheap shots as other judges attempted to comment on her otherworldly vocal talent. The episode with his comments ran in time for Mandisa to see them before the next time she went in front of the judges in the semifinal competition. Rather than create a dramatic scene, Mandisa chose another route.
She told Cowell, “What I want to say to you is that, yes, you hurt me and I cried, and it was painful. It really was.”
She continued, “But I want you to know that I’ve forgiven you and that you don’t need someone to apologize in order to forgive somebody. I figure that if Jesus could die so that all of my wrongs could be forgiven, I can certainly extend that same grace to you.”
Cowell apologized immediately, and he’s spoken since about how her statement was one of the true moments of grace he has received in his professional life.
Mandisa continued to have struggles with her weight. She would sign with a Christian music label and release some tremendous tunes that were written by songwriter Matthew West for Mandisa. Her first Christmas album in 2007 became the first time in the history of Christian music that a female performer held both the No. 1 and No. 2 songs on the singles chart at the same time.
Her fourth studio album, “Overcomer”, was by far her most successful, with the title track charting on pop music charts as well as Christian charts. She received a Grammy for the album, but those awards came at a very dark time for Mandisa.
In 2014, as Mandisa began the tour for the “Overcomer” album, she lost a friend to breast cancer. She gained back more than 100 pounds that she had lost at that time, and then some. She was in the throes of depression and actually declined attending the Grammys, typically the pinnacle of a musician’s career, because of where she was at the time emotionally.
She would find her way back to the recording studio and release some incredible music in the final decade of her career, though only one more album, “Out of the Dark”, in 2017. On April 18, 2024, she was found dead in her Franklin, Tenn., home. Earlier that same year, Mandisa had canceled shows due to issues with her frequently rising weight, and at her death, her autopsy listed her at 488 pounds.
“Good Morning” has become the wake-up song for my children in the morning, and so many of Mandisa’s tunes are written in reverence to her faith but also with a challenge to make the world a better place while we’re in it.
Thank you, Artemis II crew, for reminding the world just how high we can achieve if we’re willing to work together…and for reminding the world about the beautiful music and soul of Mandisa.
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