Deleon Richards is an American gospel singer

Gospel music

Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....

. She is the wife of baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 player Gary Sheffield

Gary Sheffield

Gary Antonian Sheffield , nicknamed "Sheff", is an American retired Major League Baseball outfielder. He played for eight major league ball clubs from 1988 to 2009, primarily as an outfielder.-Biography:...

. DeLeon Richards was a child star in the gospel music industry. Her most recent gospel outing is the album Here in Me released in 2007 on Arrow Records.

Deleon, the youngest artist ever signed to a major Gospel label, has been singing professionally for almost a lifetime. Recording, writing and co-producing with some of the biggest in the music industry, Jeffrey "J Dub" Walker of Dub’s World Production, Jerry Peters, Brian McKnight, Tim Minor, Percy Bady, Tonex, Warren Campbell, Raymond Tisdale w/Tisway Productions and Fred Hammond, all having a great influence in her musical career.

Born in the suburbs of Chicago, Deleon started singing at the age of 5 before 20,000 people at a Chicago Gospel Festival. She has performed for numerous political and religious figures, including President Ronald Reagan. At age 9, she became the youngest person ever to be nominated for a Grammy: the previous record holder was Michael Jackson.

In the early 1980s Deleon was the youngest Gospel artist ever signed with a major recording company. She toured for the first time at age five, opening in Japan for the Mighty Clouds, which sparked the beginning of her musical travel throughout the U.S., Germany, Europe, Asia, West Indies, etc., as well as regular concert performances for the military and USO.

1986 was the beginning of the exciting film and television career, making numerous appearances on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, The 700 Club

The 700 Club

The 700 Club is the flagship news talk show of the Christian Broadcasting Network, airing in syndication throughout the United States and Canada. In production since 1966, it is currently hosted by Pat Robertson, Terry Meeuwsen, Kristi Watts, and Gordon P. Robertson, two of whom will host on any...

, NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

, CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

, ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

, WGN

WGN-TV

WGN-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the CW-affiliated television station in Chicago, Illinois built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WGN-TV's studios and offices are located at 2501 W...

 and a variety of cable networks. Deleon studied voice with Chicago music teacher Sandra Leconte in her teen years. In 1990 she was cast in ABC's short-lived television drama Brewster Place, based on the 1989 miniseries The Women of Brewster Place

The Women of Brewster Place (1989 television)

The Women of Brewster Place is a TV miniseries that aired on March 19,1989 & March 20,1989 on ABC. The miniseries is based upon the 1982 novel by Gloria Naylor. It was produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions with a teleplay by Karen Hall...

.

Deleon has been featured in several national magazines including People

People (magazine)

In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...

, Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...

, In Style

In Style

InStyle is a monthly women’s fashion magazine published in the United States by Time Inc. Along with advertising, the magazine offers articles about beauty, fashion, home, entertaining, charitable endeavors and celebrity lifestyles. Launched in 1993 , InStyle currently has a circulation of 1.7...

, Ebony

Ebony (magazine)

Ebony, a monthly magazine for the African-American market, was founded by John H. Johnson and has published continuously since the autumn of 1945...

, and Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

. She won the Gospel Music Workshop of America

Gospel Music Workshop of America

Gospel Music Workshop of America is an international music convention founded by Rev. James Cleveland along with Albertina Walker in 1967.-GMWA membership:...

 Award for Excellence and was nominated for a Stellar Award.

Deleon has shared the stage with Patti LaBelle

Patti LaBelle

Patricia Louise Holte-Edwards , better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry...

, Shirley Caesar

Shirley Caesar

Shirley Ann Caesar is an American Gospel music singer, songwriter and recording artist whose career has spanned six decades...

, Lou Rawls

Lou Rawls

Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...

, The Winans, BeBe

BeBe Winans

Benjamin "BeBe" Winans is a gospel and R&B singer. He is a member of the noted Winans family, most members of which are also gospel artists.-The PTL Club:...

 and CeCe Winans

CeCe Winans

Priscilla "CeCe" Marie Winans Love is an American Gospel singer, who has won numerous Grammy and Stellar Awards.-Early life:CeCe Winans was born in Detroit, Michigan, to David and Delores Winans, on October 8, 1964...

, Sandi Patti

Sandi Patty

Sandra Faye "Sandi" Patty is an American Christian music singer. For many years she was known as Sandi Patti. She has been dubbed "The Voice" by critics, because of her wide range and flexibility.-Early life:...

, Kirk Franklin

Kirk Franklin

Kirk Dwayne Franklin is an American Gospel music musician, choir director, and author, and is most notably known for leading urban contemporary gospel choirs such as The Family, God's Property and One Nation Crew .- Early years :...

, Fred Hammond

Fred Hammond

Fred Hammond is a gospel music singer, bass guitar player, and record producer.-Musical career:Hammond has been active both as a member of the gospel performing group Commissioned, and as a solo artist...

, Yolanda Adams

Yolanda Adams

Yolanda Adams is an American Grammy- and Dove-award-winning Yolanda Adams is an American [[Grammy Awards|Grammy]]- and [[Dove Awards|Dove]]-award-winning...

, Al Green

Al Green

Albert Greene , better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together"...

, Joni Eareckson Tada

Joni Eareckson Tada

Joni Eareckson Tada is an evangelical Christian author, radio host, and founder of Joni and Friends, an organization "accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community." "Joni" is pronounced as if it were spelled "Johnny" as she was named after her father.-Biography:As a teenager, Joni...

, and many others.

Deleon writes much of her own music and is President of her own company, DeMari Publishing and Entertainment, Inc. She also supports the Gary Sheffield Foundation, founded by her husband; New York Mets

New York Mets

The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...

 outfielder Gary Sheffield

Gary Sheffield

Gary Antonian Sheffield , nicknamed "Sheff", is an American retired Major League Baseball outfielder. He played for eight major league ball clubs from 1988 to 2009, primarily as an outfielder.-Biography:...

. Deleon sang the National Anthem at game 5 of the New York Knicks

New York Knicks

The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...

/Toronto Raptors

Toronto Raptors

The Toronto Raptors are a professional basketball team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1995, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies, as part of the NBA's re-expansion...

 Playoff Game held at Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...

. Most recently, she performed at RFK Stadium to a crowd of 80,000 people at the Bobby Jones Gospel Fest.

Discography

• DeLeon (Myrrh, 1984)
• Don't Follow The Crowd (Rejoice, 1987)
• We Need To Hear From You (Word, 1989)
• New Direction (Word, 1992)
• My Life (Intersound, 1996)
• Straight From The Heart (Tommy Boy Gospel, 2001)
• Here In Me (DeMari/Arrow, 2008)

Sources: