Before she ever cried tears of joy upon hearing her song on K-LOVE for the first time, Katy Nichole felt a different emotion – one that could’ve changed everything.
“I picked up a bottle of pills on my dresser, and I looked at it and I said, ‘It would be that easy,’” the “In Jesus Name (God of Possible) singer said. “But that bottle of pills fell out of my hand, and I just felt the Lord say, ‘I'm not done yet.’”
Like so many who now make music for a living, the 22-year-old Nichole fell in love with singing at an early age. She often sang songs learned from Vacation Bible School around her childhood home, and by the time she turned 10, Nichole says she knew she wanted to be on stage one day.
But with the joy of music also came pain.
Nichole was born with congenital scoliosis, an uncommon and progressive form of the ailment, and the effects of the curvature eventually required back surgery with metal rods and screws placed into her spine.
“I went into the surgery and when I came out, I was in excruciating pain every single day,” Nichole said. “When I was supposed to be recovered, I was still in pain. I was severely depressed, had anxiety I had never even seen before, and there was one moment where I said, ‘God, I cannot do this anymore.’ But I don't believe that God would waste a single second of our pain. And I know that He didn't in that season of my life.”
Eventually, Nichole’s doctors determined removing those metal rods and screws was the only option. After her latest surgery was complete, and in a windowless intensive care unit in the hospital, Nichole experienced a brightness she had never seen before.
“I looked up and I saw the light again for the first time,” Nichole said. “It was as if I was meeting Jesus for the first time. I know that's kind of crazy because I’ve known Jesus my whole life – I've always been a Christian – but I just knew that His presence was all over that room.
“After the surgery, they took x-rays, and my spine was actually straighter without the metal rods and screws in it. Coming out of the surgery and just knowing God had plans for me, that was the most amazing feeling.”
Little did she know, those plans were about to come to fruition in a life-changing manner.
Nichole joined the social media app Tik Tok in 2020, and one day, the aspiring songstress simply decided on a whim to post a clip of herself performing “In Jesus Name (God of Possible)” with the hope to inspire just one person.
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A few hours later, the video had over one million views.
Nichole and her team then knew they needed to truly get the song out into the world, so they recorded and then released the single.
And then came Jan. 22 of this year.
“I was actually told that this song was going to play [on K-LOVE for the first time just] 10 minutes before it played … and [I thought] they said it might not even go to radio; this is crazy,” Nichole recalled. “Hearing it was like, ‘What!? You guys just played my song on the radio.’ I couldn’t believe this because it's something you dream about your whole life. If you're a musician, that's one of the dreams is to hear your song on the radio, and it was amazing. I was in awe, and I was like, ‘Wow, God.’”
Nichole quickly became the first new artist in 19 years to see her debut single reach the top of Billboard’s Christian Airplay chart in just 12 weeks, marking the fastest trip to the top of any prior female artist in the chart’s nearly two-decade history.
She then performed the song at the 2022 K-LOVE Fan Awards – where she was a three-time nominee in her first trip – and the smash hit was named “Worship Song of the Year.”
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Yes, tears of joy are much more prevalent these days than the other variety, and Nichole simply wants others to feel that emotion as they walk with Jesus.
“What I want people to take away is, be reminded that you have a story – and that story is incredibly important to tell,” Nichole said. “I look at my story sometimes and I'm like, ‘That's kind of scary to look at. It's scary to look at our past. But I've seen how God has brought glory to His name and how He's brought good from some of these really, really bad things. And I just know that He can do that for anyone.
“I just want people to be reminded that our story is important, and I will continue to tell my story. And my hope is that those stories will resonate, and it will feel like your story through my story.”
