Nikki Leonti
Genre: Pop
Official Web Site
Nikki Leonti Bibliography: (click on each album cover to view tracks and Nikki Leonti lyrics)
Nikki Leonti Biography Seventeen-year-old Nikki Leonti sings with a voice that is mature far beyond her years. Likewise, she thinks with a clarity and awareness seldom found in one so young. But most importantly--and endearingly--she lives and loves with the pure, child-like faith that Christ instructed all his followers to model.
Born with a gift for song, Nikki grew up in a home that nurtured both her spirit and her singing. She watched her mother lead worship every Sunday in the family's church, as her father played drums in the band. The Leonti's were active in ongoing evangelical outreaches to the community, and at an early age Nikki learned a love for music and the Lord, as well as compassion for the people and the world around her.
She began singing solos in church at the age of 7. By her 13th birthday, Nikki was recording on a small label owned by one of the judges in a local talent contest in which she'd taken first prize. Joined by her older brother on keyboard, Nikki and her parents wrote and performed all the songs on the album. The project was little-noticed outside of Nikki's church, family and friends, but it was all the experience she needed to know what she wanted to do with her life.
The album did, however, find it's way to the Elefantes, and although they considered Nikki too young at the time to embark on a recording career, they were duly impressed with her talent and kept a distant, but interested, eye on her. Two years later, when the brothers hear a five-song demo of new material from Nikki, the flew immediately to her home in Corona, Calif., to hear her do a showcase performance. They offered her a contract with their production company the next day.
Nikki is excited but largely unfazed by all the attention. "My life is really normal, which is how it should be," she says. "I still sing in church, go to the mall and hang out with my friends. I believe this is something God's brought into my life and I don't deserve any glory. He could have chosen anybody. All the glory is His."
And even on the verge of seeing her childhood dreams realized sooner than even a vivid imagination could conjure, Nikki still holds tightly to the firm foundation her parents and the Lord have built for her. "I've never dreamed of being some kind of big star or anything, and I still don't," she concludes. "I never even thought about music as anything but ministry until somebody came into my life and asked me to do an album. I just want to keep ministering the way my family and I have always done--the way I was brought up. If I can just continue doing that, I'll be happy ... and grateful to God."
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