Zoegirl: Things you may not have known

I blogged last week about my experience at Revolve Tour 2006 (See I'm Baaack). I promised to blog about the group ZOEgirl (Chrissy Conway, in particular) and I will now do just that. Even if you do not listen to Contemporary Christian music, I have a feeling that you will still find the following information noteworthy at the very least.


(Chrissy on left)
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.org

Chrissy Conway is a member of the group. She has always wanted a career in television or music from an early age. She began getting small roles here and there as an on-set extra when she was 14. A few years later, she decided to audition for an R&B group looking for another member. Even though she had no knowledge of or experience with R&B music at all, she was chosen as a member of the group called Cherish. The group consisted of Chrissy, and two other girls named Sharon, and Alecia.

Cherish moved to Atlanta, where they signed with LaFace records and created an album. The girls were eventually told by company execs that they needed to lose weight/get in shape. She says that she worked out with a physical trainer for months and months, and eventually fell in love with him. She even moved in with him. At some point, LaFace decided that they wanted to drop Chrissy and Sharon, and keep Alecia as a solo artist. You may have heard of Alecia. She is now referred to as P!nk, the pop singer!

Chrissy was devastated as anyone would have been, and her relationship with the trainer faltered. Her favorite group at the time was En Vogue, and she went to a Crusade Gospel tour that was to feature them. En Vogue never performed, as only one of their members actually showed up, but Chrissy gave her life over to Christ that night. She began reading her Bible regularly. Later down the road, she was offered a contract with Def Jam records, but couldn't decide whether she should take it (you can tell how different she must have become!) She prayed about it, asking the Lord to guide her in the direction that He wanted her to go in.

The very next day, she received a phone call from Kristin Swinford telling her that there was an all-girl Christian group that needed a member. She accepted without hesitation and moved to Nashville! Chrissy, Kristin, and Alisa became the group we now know as ZOEgirl, top selling artists of all time on Sparrow Records. Chrissy eventually met her prince charming, a very nice man by the name of James Katina (of the group The Katinas) They were married and have a brand new baby.


Photo courtesy of thekatinas.com

Chrissy's testimony of hope, shattered dreams, lonliness, and new found hope in the Lord was very moving and made a huge difference to the girls at Revolve. You may also not have heard that ZOEgirl's last performance as a group was at Revolve in Atlanta. Two of the members have recently married and become moms (one of them being Chrissy), and all three of them are moving in different directions for now. Their music has been very inspirational to young women, and they will definitely leave a footprint in the Contemporary Christian music industry.