Rachael Lampa took home the first K-LOVE Fan Award of her career for “Perfectly Loved (feat. TobyMac)” at the 2023 installment of the annual event that celebrated a decade’s worth of fan favorites this year. A grateful and emotional Lampa accepted the accolade from a trio of presenters: her dear friend, Andrew Ripp, and NEEDTOBREATHE members Bear Rinehart and Seth Bolt.
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Lampa, who signed a recording contract at age 14, performed the winning track with Ripp live on the Fan Awards stage before providing harmonies on his Song of the Year-nominated anthem, “Fill My Cup.” Additionally, the songstress served up an acoustic version of “Perfectly Loved,” with Brandon Heath helming Ripp’s part, at the Emerging Artist Showcase on Saturday afternoon of the K-LOVE Fan Awards Weekend.
“Perfectly Loved,” Lampa’s first No. 1 single in 22 years, marked the now independent artist’s official return to Christian music following a two-decade hiatus that found her touring with some of mainstream music’s biggest names as a background vocalist. In the last few years, she slowly started putting pen to paper again, and as new melodies began to emerge, so did her voice.
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“It’s funny how so many times in life when you set out to help someone, you end up being the one who gets helped. That’s what the journey of ‘Perfectly Loved’ has been for me,” says Lampa, who left her record deal in her early 20s reasoning she might never pen and perform original music again. “I started out thinking I was writing someone else’s story, and I ended up writing my own. Oof. I realized the person who needed to hear this song most was 5-year-old Rachael. And then 10-year-old Rachael, 25-year-old Rachael… And even, this Rachael today. She had found many clever ways to run and hide and cope and distract, but it feels good now to see her through eyes of empathy and compassion — the way God saw her the whole time. At times, being loved can be a difficult thing to receive, because sometimes the truth is, we don’t actually feel that way about ourselves. So take a deep breath, breathe it in. You are loved…perfectly.”
In addition to winning Breakout Single of the Year, “Perfectly Loved” was nominated for Song of the Year. Lampa was also a contender in the 2023 Female Artist of the Year category.
