BIO
Ashley Cleveland (born February 2, 1957) is an singer/songwriter and author best known as a background vocalist and gospel singer. Ashley Cleveland was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. She has been married to Kenny Greenberg since April 27, 1991, and has three children.
She sang "We're Gonna Win This One" in 1987 for the Touchstone Pictures film Ernest Goes to Camp. Her career includes vocal contributions to more than 300 albums, including the Dove Award winning albums Songs from the Loft (1994), The Jesus Record by Rich Mullins and A Ragamuffin Band, 1998. As part of John Hiatt's band, she has also made several widely seen television appearances including, Austin City Limits, Late Night with David Letterman, The Arsenio Hall Show and Saturday Night Live. Steve Winwood contributed duet vocals and played the Hammond B3 organ for the song "I Need Thee Every Hour" on Cleveland's 2005 album, Men and Angels Say. She has contributed to the Songwriting With: Soldiers workshops, and is credited as a co-writer on the song "Stronger Together" on the Mary Gauthier album Rifles & Rosary Beads.
As the Grammy Award's first female nominee in the Best Rock Gospel category, Ashley Cleveland won this award in 1996 for her album Lesson of Love, in 1999 for You Are There, and in 2008 for Before the Daylight's Shot. She is the only artist to be nominated, and win, three times in this category.
In 2010, God Don't Never Change, was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Traditional Gospel Album category, bringing her total number of overall nominations to four (with three wins). Lesson of Love also won a 1996 Nashville Music Award ("Nammy") for Best Contemporary Christian Album. Cleveland was the only female vocalist to sing lead on a song ("Gimme Shelter") for the television special, Stone Country: A Tribute to the Rolling Stones on the defunct The Nashville Network (TNN).
In 2013 Ashley published her memoir, Little Black Sheep, in hardcover, & eBook format. In 2017, Ashley was the subject of an award winning documentary, "Who's the Girl: The Story of Ashley Cleveland" with guest appearances and interviews & appearances from Garth Brooks, Emmylou Harris, Kenny Chesney, Rodney Cromwell, Amy Grant, & more!
Learn more about Ashley by clicking HERE.
BOOK & DOCUMENTARY
An original Big Branch documentary about Ashley Cleveland, an award-winning singer and songwriter, who has an undeniable talent that is overlooked by the music industry. She is no stranger to rock bottom. The difficulties within her family and upbringing led Ashley to find her love of music, but she fights a constant battle with her secondary love of drugs and alcohol. Amidst these challenges, Ashley perseveres and is signed by Atlantic Records. This win is short-lived as Ashley walks away from this record deal to follow her faith. In turn, she unearths musical honesty and ultimately discovers a place where she is seen, heard, and belongs.
Winner of 3 Knoxville Film Festival Awards: Best Tennessee Film Documentary, 1st Place Documentary, and Audience Favorite Tennessee Documentary.
Featuring interviews & appearances from Garth Brooks, Emmylou Harris, Kenny Chesney, Rodney Cromwell, Amy Grant, & more!
Watch the trailer by clicking HERE.
“This is the story of the groundwork that paved the way to my faith. It is not an easy story to tell….” This powerful memoir from Grammy Award winner Ashley Cleveland reminds us that even in the lowest times of our lives, beauty can shine through. As a young woman from a deeply flawed family, Ashley had little hope she would amount to anything. If there was trouble, near or far, she found it. Yet, in her destructive days of drugs, alcohol, and sex, she encountered a forgiving God who was relentlessly faithful. Change did not come quickly. The brokenness did not disappear. But little by little, Ashley allowed God to heal her, to transform her desires, to bring courage to others through her journey. Little by little, she saw that it was her brokenness itself that God wanted to use. This beautifully told story will take you from the back rooms of Nashville to the churches of the San Francisco Bay area to a tender new life where one woman discovers that God can work in broken places.
Purchase on Amazon now by clicking HERE.