Amber Brianna Lawrence-Bullock (born April 11, 1986) is an American

urban contemporary gospel Urban/contemporary gospel, also known as urban gospel music, urban gospel pop, or just simply urban gospel, is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the gen ...

artist and musician. Bullock won the gospel singing competition, ''Sunday Best'', that airs on

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

, during season four. She started her music career, in 2011, with the release of the

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

, ''Thank You'', by Music World Gospel, and this charted on three ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' charts The ''Billboard'' 200,

Top Gospel Albums Top Gospel Albums is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States, ranking the popularity of gospel albums. As of Tuesday, January 31, 2017 (with the charts dated February 11, 2017), it uses the same multi-metric m ...

, and the

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' mag ...

chart. She saw her first studio album, ''So in Love'', chart on two ''Billboard'' charts, the Top Gospel Albums and Independent Albums.

Early life

Bullock was born on April 11, 1986, in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, as Amber Brianna Lawrence-Bullock. Before her music career blossomed, with her winning appearance on season four of ''Sunday Best'', she was living in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

at the time, but because of her mother's job promotion at work they moved to

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. While in New Orleans, she got a job at a call center, and during that timespan got involved in an automobile accident that destroyed her car. This forced her to move in with a colleague from work, and send her two-year-old daughter at the time to be raised by her father. When she got the break to be on the show, she had the mentality of "'Lord let your will be done.' I had nothing to lose and everything to gain." In 2011, she graduated from

Oakwood University Oakwood University is a private, historically black Seventh-day Adventist university in Huntsville, Alabama. It is the only HBCU owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Oakwood University is accredited by the Southern Assoc ...

Music career

Her music career started on the

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

reality singing competition television show ''Sunday Best'', in season four, that airs on

. She won the competition, and got a record deal with Music World Gospel. This allowed her to release an

, ''Thank You'', on November 29, 2011, shortly afterward being crowned the winner on the show. The extended play charted on three ''

'' charts The ''Billboard'' 200 at No. 145, No. 1 on the

chart, and No. 10 on the

chart. It was rated three and a half stars by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's David Jeffries, and an eight out of ten by

Cross Rhythms Cross Rhythms is a Christian media organisation based in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It operates an FM and online radio station, produces radio shows sent internationally, and its website has resources about contemporary Christian music. His ...

' Lins Honeyman. This would be the precursor to her first studio album, ''So in Love'', which released on July 10, 2012, and it charted on two ''Billboard'' charts the Top Gospel albums at No. 3 and at the No. 30 position on the Independent Albums chart. The album received a nine out of ten by Cross Rhythms' Lins Honeyman, and E.J. Gaines of UP reports that "''So In Love'' is a solid collection of feel-good music, anchored in soulful melodies and accented by Bullock’s undeniable passion and impeccable vocal agility."

Personal life

Bullock resides in St. Louis, Missouri, with her daughter, and attends church at Fresh Anointing, where Michael Lampkin, a contestant on season five of ''Sunday Best'', is the pastor.

Discography

;Studio albums ;EPs

References

External links

St. Louis American article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bullock, Amber 1986 births Living people African-American songwriters African-American Christians Musicians from St. Louis Songwriters from Missouri American gospel singers 21st-century African-American women singers 21st-century American women singers