Joshua Nelson (singer) facts for kids
Joshua Nelson is an American gospel singer and a Hebrew teacher. He is known for blending Jewish and gospel music styles. He is sometimes called "the prince of kosher gospel." He has also described himself as "the KKK's worst nightmare" because of his unique background.
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Who is Joshua Nelson?
Early Life and Music
Joshua Nelson's grandparents came to the United States from Senegal. He grew up in Brooklyn, where he became very interested in music at age 8. This love for music continued when he attended Newark's Performing Arts High School. He was the main soloist there for all four years.
After high school, Joshua went to Israel for a two-year college and kibbutz program. He studied at the Hebrew Union College and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. While at Hebrew University, he started mixing Hebrew words with gospel melodies. He also began arranging Jewish hymns in a gospel style. This led to his first solo CDs, "Hebrew Soul" (2004) and "Mi Chamocha" (2005).
Both of Joshua Nelson’s parents are Jewish. His family first went to a Black synagogue in Brooklyn. Later, they joined Sharey Tefilo-Israel, a Reform synagogue in South Orange, New Jersey. This synagogue is known for being very open-minded.
Jewish Gospel Singing
Joshua Nelson is a Jewish Gospel singer. He follows in the footsteps of famous gospel singers like Mahalia Jackson. When he is not traveling for performances, he teaches Hebrew full-time. He works at the Hebrew school at Sharey Tefilo-Israel in South Orange, NJ. He also directs music at Hopewell Baptist Church in Newark, NJ. This church is in a building that used to be a synagogue called B’nai Jeshurun.
Joshua Nelson has performed with many famous musicians. These include Wynton Marsalis, Aretha Franklin, and Billy Preston. He has also sung with gospel stars like Albertina Walker and Kirk Franklin. He often performs with the Jewish Klezmer band The Klezmatics. He even performed with jazz legends Cab Calloway and Dizzy Gillespie.
In 2001, Nelson sang for the Swedish Prime Minister, Göran Persson. He also performed in Jerusalem for an audience that included the Israeli Prime Minister at the time, Ariel Sharon.
Joshua Nelson in Film and TV
Documentary Film
A film was made about Joshua Nelson in 2000. It was called Keep on Walking: Joshua Nelson: The Jewish Gospel Singer. This film won "Best Documentary" at the Northampton Film Festival. It also won the "Best Film Award" (the Paul Robeson Award) at the Newark Black Film Festival.
The film was shown on PBS and other TV networks across the United States in 2003 and 2004. It was also shown internationally in Sweden, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, Israel, and Italy during the same years.
Television Appearances
Joshua Nelson has appeared on several TV shows. These include “A+ for Kids” on WWOR-TV. He was also on “SingSation,” a gospel show taped in Chicago and broadcast nationally on CBS-TV from 1995 to 1997, and again in 2005. He appeared on Black Entertainment Television's The Bobby Jones Gospel Hour from 1995 to 2003.
Nelson also appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in October and December 2004. On the show, Oprah Winfrey named him, along with Jamie Foxx, as “The Next Big Thing.”
In 2013, Nelson performed and was interviewed for part four of the BBC documentary The Story of the Jews. This documentary was shown in the United Kingdom on BBC Two in September 2013. It was later broadcast in the United States on PBS in March and April 2014.
