AIKIN
As winner of the very first “Sunday Best” singing competition on Black Entertainment Television (BET) last year, Crystal Aikin was blessed with a platform from which her music of praise and worship touched people from coast to coast. This Sunday she’ll be lighting up the stage at Pantages Theater with fellow gospel performers for a musical event that promises to lift the spirit and invigorate the soul.
In “A Tribute to Gospel Music,” Aikin will join forces with special guests Emily Gomez, New Life Baptist Church Mass Choir, Church for All Nations Island Praise and Worship Team and Warriors Cry. She said she’s excited for this, her first time singing in a theater in front of her hometown audience. She’s also a little nervous, as well, but that’s natural – and a reflection of her humble heart and down-to-earth character. “I want us to have a God experience with Crystal artistry,” she said. “If I don’t see hands raised and God being exalted, I feel like I haven’t really done my job.”
Born and raised in Tacoma, Aikin attended Holy Rosary School until eighth grade, then went to Henry Foss High School. From there she entered college at Pacific Lutheran University and graduated in 1997 with a double major in biology and psychology. At Tacoma Community College she earned a nursing degree. Her first nursing job was at St. Clare’s Hospital, then she moved on to the emergency room at St. Joseph’s Medical Center, part of the Franciscan Health System, sponsor of “A Tribute to Gospel Music.”
Aikin left nursing in April of this year to pursue her music. “I do miss patient care,” she said, as she views nursing as a healing type of ministry. “I always knew I was going to do something for God.” She said she would like to go back to nursing one day.
Aikin said she never intended to be a gospel-singing sensation, but noted that we don’t always know what God has planned for us. “I’m walking in a totally different lane” than she had planned, she said.
“I didn’t grow up knowing this is what I wanted to do, but I love singing and I love seeing God get the glory. That’s big for me. It isn’t about me being the famous one; it’s really about him being the famous one.
“I appreciate meeting people, and when they tell me what a blessing I’ve been and what they’ve gotten from my singing and how their lives have changed, I love that.”
After suffering some discouragement from not winning previous singing competitions she had entered, Aikin said she wasn’t too thrilled to throw her hat into the ring again on national television to compete on BET. “I had already been disappointed, and I couldn’t get disappointed again. I just couldn’t do it.” She wouldn’t answer her phone when “Sunday Best” producers were calling her to come back after her first audition. She said they even pulled out the White Pages and called every Aikin in Tacoma trying to find her. They called her church and her mother. “I finally called back and here we are today!” Aikin said with a hearty laugh. “It’s a strange story, but I tell people they never know the package God is going to bless you with.”
Winning “Sunday Best” earned Aikin a recording contract with Zomba Gospel. Her first CD of 10 songs is slated for release this January with a national tour possible as well. She said creating an album was a lot of fun and gave her the opportunity to travel the country and work with some of the biggest names in gospel – Natalie Grant, J. Moss, writing/producing team PAJAM, and “Sunday Best” host Kirk Franklin, to name just a few.
On Oct. 11 Aikin will be honored with an Outstanding Recent Alumna award from PLU, part of the university’s homecoming events. She said she’s a bit overwhelmed with all the attention she’s getting, and expressed gratitude for her family and friends, and for the fans she attracted once “Sunday Best” aired.
“There’s a scripture passage that says all things really do work together according to God’s purpose. Expect the unexpected and believe in the impossible because that’s what God is about.”
Single tickets to “A Tribute to Gospel Music” are available for $19, $29 and $50. Tickets can be purchased at the Broadway Center Box Office at 9th and Broadway or by calling (253) 591-5894. To purchase online, visit http://www.broadwaycenter.org. The show starts at 5 p.m.
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