Christian singer knows the ups and downs of the journey are part of God’s plan

Bay Turner, a contestant on BET’s Sunday Best and America’s Got Talent, didn’t win either competition, but the victories were part of God’s plan that got him to where he is now. But four years after participating in those shows and taking his first steps toward signing a contract with a Christian record label, doctors told him that his vocal cords were irreparably damaged and he would never be able to sing again.

In order to heal at all, Turner had to remain completely silent for three months. He could not speak, let alone sing. But God used this time even more than if Turner had spent it on intensive vocal training.

“I learned what His heart meant to me,” Turner said. “It wasn’t until that quiet time when I started hearing from Him that I really began to understand what His heart meant to me. Singing was my identity. It was who I was.”

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“I believe God had to stop me and take me off my path long enough to realize that my identity was not that of a singer, but that of a son of God,” Turner noted. “When I realized the difference between who I am in Christ and my gift, God gave me my voice back.”

Joy

This journey resulted in his first single, “Brand New,” released on May 3.

The song is about the joy Turner felt when he learned that God had performed a miracle on his body. Turner wanted to encourage new and experienced believers to share in that same joy.

“I wanted everyone who listens to this music to feel this absolute joy through their radio or their phone or wherever they hear it,” he continued.

Another previously unreleased song that is one of Turner’s personal favorites is “Better Days.” It was his first song written with Centricity Music and is for those who need hope and have been beaten down by life.

‘Better days will come’

Turner said that in times when he himself found himself in this situation, he had to remember and rely on the Bible passage that says Jesus was close to those with a broken heart.

“I wrote this song for people who haven’t experienced a breakthrough or a miracle yet, just to give them hope that better days are coming,” Turner said.

When he started out as an extremely shy child who never sang in front of anyone, he needed the Divorce, mixtapes from a gas station, and an hour and a half drive to give him what he needed to finally use his gift to encourage Christians and praise God.

During these trips to and from his father’s house, he would listen to mixtapes of different styles of music, especially soul singers. In the week between visits, he would practice the songs and the singers’ intonation. To further learn these vocal nuances, he focused on music in college.

God uses gifts

Turner learned to sing in a different way than he had planned. He ended up in a classical opera program “by chance” and eventually traveled the world as an opera singer. When he realized that the opera world did not align with his faith, he turned to Christian music and began leading worship services with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.

Turner performed on Sunday Best in 2020 shortly before his vocal cord injury, and his shyness truly disappeared when he appeared on AGT in 2022. He knew that “a little bit of anxiety is normal,” but he was completely at peace.

He remembers AGT judge Heidi Klum saying that once he started singing, there was something special about him that she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

“As a Christian, of course, I know about our gifts – the power of music and, frankly, the power that the Lord has in using you and your gifts – that they actually said, ‘We could feel Jesus in you.’

“That really gave me a confidence boost because I knew that if I do it right and keep Christ at the center, there is nothing I can’t do. God will take care of it,” Turner said.

Building the Kingdom

Signing with a Christian label could be seen as a coincidence, much like his path to opera singing, but Turner knows that both were God’s plan.

After his television appearances, he was discovered on Instagram and invited to a retreat for independent artists, where he fell in love with some Christian music talent and collaborators. He made a spontaneous decision to move to Nashville.

“I told the Lord, ‘If nothing happens in six months, I’m going home and doing something else with my life. But I feel like I need to take this opportunity with Centricity – these people I’ve just met, this community I’ve just been introduced to.’

“In the first week of my sixth month in Nashville, I was offered a record deal with Centricity,” he said.

Through all these ups and downs, Turner learned that he can accomplish nothing without Christ.

“To go through life the right way as a Christian singer-songwriter, you have to have your heart and your mind in it.

As a Christian singer-songwriter, singing is not his primary focus, he noted.

“First and foremost is the gospel message,” he added, “and first and foremost is about building the kingdom and glorifying the name of Jesus. Second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth is the singing part.”