Rebecca St James

Show&tell, 09 oktober 2003
Rebecca’s real name is Rebecca Jean Smallbone. She was born on July 26, 1977 in Sydney. Rebecca’s dad, David Smallbone, was a Christian concert promotor, so it was not weird for her to begin singing. When she was 13 years old, she performed with Carman on his Australian tour. In the same year her first album was recorded. It appeared on her real name. The album was called Refresh my heart. It was a praise/pop-album. In 1991 Rebecca and her family moved to the United States. Soon Rebecca’s dad lost his job, so the family had to depend on God for surviving. Rebecca and her 5 brothers had to do chores for the money. After a while the family had enough money, so Rebecca could begin performing again. When she was 16 she began recording for ForeFrontRecords. Her debut was her self-titled album Rebecca St James. She got nominated for being the Best New Artist of the Year and for the Dove Awards. She was the youngest artist nominated ever by then. The following album was called God. It appeared in 1996. The music had changed into pop/rock. After that album she made a Christmas album, in 1997. The music on that album is a bit like the music on the first album, I don’t like these albums that much. She’s got a little bit a childish voice in these albums and the songs are musically not so complicated. Besides singing, she also writes books. The first book is called 40 Days with God. It’s a kind of a diary which can help you reading the Bible. In 1998 it appeared in Holland. The second book’s called You’re the voice-40 more days with God. That one appeared in Holland in 2002. The second book is about the virginity of Rebecca and her thoughts about her future husband. In both books she wants the readers to live with God for 40 days. In 1998 a new album appears. It’s called Pray and tells you all about praying. In that time she performed in Holland for the first time, on the EO-Youth Day. In the beginning of 1999 she had a few more concerts in Holland. Rebecca filmed a video in 1999 too. It’s called No Secrets, but the video is not really a film, but an interview. In 2000 Rebecca performed on the EO-Youth Day for the 2nd time. I was there too and from that moment on, I began to like her music more and more. I borrowed albums from a friend and burned the cd’s, because I liked the music so much. In 2000 her was her 6th album Transform was also related. A few dance-numbers were included in that album, because dance was THE music in Europe by that time. In 2001 we heard not so much from Rebecca L But she played a secondary part in the film Left Behind. Rebecca was also busy recording her new album Worship God, which appeared in February 2002. Michael W Smith had recorded a Worship-Album in 2001, so Rebecca had to do that too. In July of that year her new book appeared in Amerika. It’s called Wait for Me and is about the virginity of Rebecca, just as the book 40 More days with God. In the end of 2002 Rebecca performed on Winter Wonder Rock, a festival in Zwolle where all kinds of Christian performers come along. In that time her first dvd appeared too, it’s also called Worship God. In march of this year the album Wait for me-the best from RSJ appeared. Two new songs are in this album. One of the new songs was written because of 9/11. It’s a prayer for the American troops in Iraq. Last month her third book appeared in Holland and she began writing her fourth book. Right now she plays in the musical !HERO-the Rock Opera. Mark Stuart and Michael Tait are also involved in this musical. Rebecca plays Mary Magdalena in this musical. The musical is about Jesus, the Hero, born in 2003 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It plays in the black part of the town. The Hero has to fight against good and evil. But, as always, there’s a happy end¡­