Christian musician Lianna Crawford’s romance with her basketball star husband is undoubtedly unique, blending two career worlds in the spotlight. Crawford, who is set to release her debut album on July 19, has had songs chart on Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs chart, Mean Girls and The truth where I standHer husband is Cody Zeller, a 6-foot-11, 11-year veteran of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks who was a first-round draft pick in 2013.
Their 2023 wedding was featured in People magazine. She even wrote a song for him. I promise to be yours, She sang for him that day.
“It was a lot of fun. I think it was a beautiful marriage,” Crawford told Crosswalk Headlines. “We were in a long-distance relationship before we got married, and then we got married. We both travel a lot, so it was still a long-distance relationship, but it was a beautiful marriage. He’s my best friend.”
Zeller is “very competitive” and enjoys making games out of everyday occurrences, she said, which often puts Crawford, who is 5 feet 4 inches tall, at a disadvantage.
“He’s just a lot of fun,” she added with a laugh.
Crawford’s debut album, Quiet WaterContains 14 tracks, including the title track “Still Waters.”Psalm 23Crawford read a poem (“The Teachings of Jesus”) that she wrote about her great-aunt, a devout woman of God who died at age 105. It was in part her aunt’s testimony and faith that led Crawford’s mother to Jesus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW0VJ×PqeRc
Crawford’s great-aunt’s faith had a major influence on her life.
“She was just an incredible woman, she loved Jesus, she loved people, and she found out in her 40s that she was going blind,” she said, “and when she got that diagnosis, she decided to memorize the Bible.”
Crawford hopes her music will give people a “sense of hope” and remind them that they are “loved by an incredibly loving father.” Psalm 23she said.
“When I hear that, I feel peace because I think, ‘Okay, God’s got it all under control. He’s my shepherd and he’s got it all under control. I don’t have to stress,'” she said of the famous passage.
Crawford began to sense God’s calling on his life when he was 16 years old.
“I went on a mission trip to Haiti with people from my church,” she said, “…it was the first time I really spent time alone with Jesus. I got up earlier than anyone else on the trip.
“So, on that journey, I felt God calling me to do music,” she said. “I had no idea what that meant. I had no idea how to do it. There was no one in our small town doing music. I was leading worship at church and writing songs and that was it.”
In 2016, she was invited to Nashville to meet and write songs with Christian artists, and in 2019, she signed to her own label, Provident.
“God just kept opening doors and I just kept walking through them,” she said.
She added, “If my music has influenced just one person, I’m so grateful.”
“I write a lot of my story. I write a lot of my experiences. And my prayer is always that someone can see themselves in the music and the lyrics,” she said, “… maybe when they hear it, they’ll feel a sense of belonging and they won’t feel alone no matter what they’re going through.”
Photo credit: ©Provident
Michael Faust He has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years, and his work has appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, Christian Post, Leaf Chronicle, Toronto Star and Knoxville News Sentinel.
