Mandisa Hundley, a musician, has passed away at 47 years old.
The singer, who was on American Idol, died at her home in Nashville, Tennessee, on Thursday.
K-Love confirmed the sad news, sharing a statement from Chief Media Officer David Pierce.
‘Mandisa loved Jesus, and she used her unusually extensive platform to talk about Him at every turn,’ he said in a statement. ‘Her kindness was epic, her smile electric, her voice massive, but it was no match for the size of her heart.
‘Mandisa struggled, and she was vulnerable enough to share that with us, which helped us talk about our own struggles. Mandisa’s struggles are over.
‘She is with the God she sang about now. While we are saddened, Mandisa is home. We’re praying for Mandisa’s family and friends and ask you to join us.’
Hundley’s cause of death has not yet been confirmed.
The California-born nurtured her love for music from a young age, studying vocal jazz in college before joining the Fisk Jubilee Singers at Fisk University in Nashville.
In 2005, she tried out for season five of American Idol and impressed the judging panel – made up of Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul – with her performance of Fallin’, by Alicia Keys.
Cowell initially praised her audition as ‘terrific’ and sent her through to the next round, but caused outrage when he made a negative comment about her weight after she had left the judging room.
Shortly after her performance, he looked off camera and asked: ‘Do we have a bigger stage this year?’, and later compared her to ‘France’.
Host Ryan Seacrest labeled the remarks ‘tacky’, as Hundley sat down with the panel to discuss the comments.
‘You hurt me and I cried, and it was painful. It really was. But I want you to know I’ve forgiven you, and that you don’t need someone to apologize in order to forgive somebody.’
Cowell replied that he was ‘humbled’ by her response, joking that he was ‘just so appalling’.
She eventually made it to the live shows but was eliminated after reaching the top nine stage.
Taylor Hicks went on to win the competition, while Katharine McPhee finished the series in second place.
After leaving the show, Hundley released her first single, Only the World, in May, 2007.
A few months later, she revealed her initial album, True Beauty – and became the first new female artist to debut at number one in the Top Christian Album charts.
She was nominated for her first Grammy for the record, for best pop / contemporary gospel album, and went on to release a further five records.
In 2014, she won the Grammy award for the best contemporary Christian music album thanks to her Overcomer album.
Hundley briefly stepped out of the spotlight after losing a close friend to cancer, but returned with an album titled Out of the Dark in 2017.
