Just a few months ago Blessing Offor was in our studio belting out amazing stripped-down renditions of some of his amazing songs, but this week his audience was a bit more prestigious. On November 8, the two-time GRAMMY nominee and Gold-certified artist stepped onto the stage at London\u2019s Royal Albert Hall. Blessing was making his UK television debut during the BBC Festival of Remembrance, performing his breakout hit \u201cBrighter Days\u201d before an audience that included King Charles, Queen Camilla, Kate Middleton; Princess of Wales, Prince George, Prince Edward and wife Sophie; Duke and Duchess of York and Prime Minister Kier Starmer. Over five million viewers tuned in to see the performance, which also featured Sir Rod Stewart, and hosted by everyone\u2019s favorite boss, Ted Lasso\u2019s Hannah Waddingham.<\/p>\n
Looking back at our time with Blessing, he is honest about the highs and lows that come with being such a vulnerable and reflective artist while making historic accomplishments. \u201cIt\u2019s surreal. You experience something at 30,000 feet, and then you experience something at rock bottom. I feel a certain way, but we\u2019ve got to go on stage and do this thing. You kind of hold it together like this\u2014it\u2019s both good and bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
That push and pull between triumph and vulnerability defines Blessing\u2019s artistry. His new\u00a0Christmas EP,\u00a0To All A Good Night<\/b>\u00a0(out November 14), closes out a landmark year that\u2019s seen him not only achieve international acclaim but also share his most personal work yet. The eight-song collection includes originals like \u201cTo All A Goodnight\u201d (co-written with Nathan Wallace) and \u201cGod With Us\u201d (co-written with Andrew Skib), alongside soulful takes on *NSYNC\u2019s \u201cMerry Christmas, Happy Holidays\u201d and Otis Redding\u2019s \u201cMerry Christmas, Baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blessing once again is connecting us all through his genre defining music. The same could be said for his most recent studio album\u00a0Real\u00a0\u201cEvery song on this record [Real] feels like a little bit of light,\u201d he said. \u201cLike a flare shot into the dark sky. If someone\u2019s walking around and it\u2019s midnight for them, and something catches their eye that looks like hope, that\u2019s exactly what I want\u2026 It was born out of a season of profound loss. I lost my mom, my best friend, and my sister,\u201d he shared. \u201cAt the same time, I got two GRAMMY nominations and did a whole tour. All the good, bad, and indifferent of that season went into this record.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even with such depth, Blessing has always made sure his songs invite everyone in. \u201cI want to make music that people who haven\u2019t been to church can get into,\u201d he explained. \u201cIf you\u2019ve never been to church and you hear my song, it should still make sense. And if you have, it\u2019ll still speak to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
That balance\u2014faith without pretense, pop without polish\u2014is what makes Blessing one of the most authentic voices in Christian music today. \u201cCCM was the first genre that gave me a chance,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll always respect that. But I make art, period. My faith informs my art, and I just try to make good songs. Sometimes it\u2019s a love song, sometimes it\u2019s a sad song\u2014but it\u2019s always honest.\u201d<\/p>\n
To All A Good Night is available everywhere November 14. Pre-save it now and let your season be a little brighter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just a few months ago Blessing Offor was in our studio belting out amazing stripped-down renditions of some…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":607531,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7708],"tags":[5105,7710,519,448],"class_list":{"0":"post-607530","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-royals","8":"tag-royal","9":"tag-royal-families","10":"tag-royal-family","11":"tag-royals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115650381938112805","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}