Kathy Troccoli

Born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 24, 1958, Miss Troccoli moved at age three and was raised in the East Islip community in Long Island, and graduated from East Islip High School, where as a senior, fellow classmates included fellow CCM artist Margaret Becker (a junior) and three-sport star Norman Esiason, Jr, a freshman. At 15, she lost her father to colon cancer. She also lost her mother to breast cancer in 1991, shortly before her album, Pure Attraction, hit the shelves with her number one mainstream hit, "Everything Changes". Before this album came out, she had taken a five year break from the music world to do some "soul searching" and deal with her bulimia. After her mother's death, she paired with Reunion again in 1991 with Pure Attraction, which launched her on the national charts was "Everything Changes." But ironically, it was "Help Myself To You" which became her first #1 hit in her ten-year career, and began a string of GMA Music Awards nominations, including numerous attempts at Female Vocalist. Numerous hit songs came afterwards, including 1994's "My Life Is in Your Hands", a song written with Bill Montvilo which defined her career, and inspired the eponymous devotional book, written in 1997, and 1995's "Go Light Your World," which gave us the rise of writer Chris Rice, and was used for charity efforts that year. In 1996, Troccoli was featured on the Beach Boys' now out-of-print album "Stars and Stripes Vol. 1" singing lead vocals on a cover of their 1969 song "I Can Hear Music" (itself a cover of a Phil Spector song). The Beach Boys sing on the track as well, providing harmonies and backing vocals.