Felicia Taylor is an internationally renowned gospel singer. She won the European Gospel Award with her self-composed song.
She has shared the stage with global stars such as Sir Elton John, Michael Jackson, Robert Palmer, Paul Anka,
Peter Maffay, Udo Lindenberg, Stefan Remmler with the song “Vogel der Nacht,” and Stefanie Heinzmann.
She won the European Gospel Award and presented it to Pope Francis in Rome on St. Peter’s Square in 2018.
In 1995, Sony Music approached Felicia and asked if she would accompany Michael Jackson to his first German TV show,
She is involved with the
World Vision, the German Hunger Relief, and has been working for many years to support children in Tanzania.
Her voice became part of sounds and productions with
She has sung and created promotional music for brands like
Felicia has worked with international artists, performing in TV productions, studios, and live on stage,
including collaborations with Milli Vanilli, Boney M, Silver Convention, Robert Palmer, Coolio, Paul Anka,
Jennifer Rush, Donna Summer, Luther Vandross, Moby, and Demis Roussos. She has also performed with many German artists such
as Peter Hoffmann, Peter Maffay, Heino, Michelle, Matthias Reim, Ingrid Peters, Sarah Connor, and Detlev Joecker.
In 1992, Felicia started her own gospel choir, which became nationally successful, and she worked with artists like Sir Elton John,
Foreigner, Yvonne Catterfeld, Marshall & Alexander in various TV shows.
Hello Felicia
“I’m so happy that we’re meeting here today, it’s such an honor for me.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank you so much for taking the time for this interview.”
“I should thank you, because this place is not easy to find.” “This place is far, far away from any bigger city.” “I’m glad you came – thank you!”
“You’re very welcome.”
“It’s a little bit outside of the world :)”
“But they do a lot of good things for the people here.”
“Yes, it’s a beautiful and peaceful location.”
“Exactly.”
“It’s a place where you immediately feel comfortable and want to linger.”
“Absolutely.”
“I love singing in churches, I love singing gospels, I love being in churches, you know – even when we’re on the road and on tours, we visit churches. Ken and I always go to churches. We like churches, we think they’re just beautiful and pleasant places.”
“They’re always special places. I’ve seen many churches in England, I worked in England for a few years. It’s quite different there, and each church tells its own unique story.”
“Yes, that’s true. We were in Cologne, at the Cologne Cathedral.”
“That one is very beautiful and almost a tourist attraction – I think.”
“Really?!”
“People come from all over the world to visit the cathedral, which is really beautiful. For me personally, it’s also a bit sad that most people go there only because of the architecture, when it is actually a house of God.”
“That’s possible.”
“The last time we were in Cologne, we went for a walk and were on our way to the Cologne Cathedral. On the way there, we discovered a church. I think it’s called St. Maria, or something like that.”
“I’ve never been there.”
“We went inside the church, and it’s so beautiful, and it’s a very old church. It’s really very old and a place of peace. We promised ourselves that we would definitely come back when we’re in Cologne again. We’ll repeat this visit.”
“That’s so beautiful.”
“The atmosphere is very good. The atmosphere in churches is very good and very special for me. I feel that way, I can’t explain it exactly – it just feels like that for me.”
“Does it give you a sense of security?”
“It gives me a sense of safety.”
“Yes.”
“Maybe that’s the easiest way to explain it: ‘It gives me the feeling of safety and being protected. God is watching over me and protecting me, and I’m sure He will always do that.’ That’s how I feel, and that’s really how it is.”
“Yes, I’m sure of that.”
“That’s how I feel, and that’s really the truth.”
“Anyway, ask me whatever you’d like. We’re talking about Cologne and the cathedral and everything else :)”
“That’s fine.”
“Please, ask me.”
“How long have you been a singer?”
“Uh, oh babe, I’ve been singing my whole life. My mom always sang to me, I sang in Sunday school, I’ve always sung.”
“And you know, I want to tell you something about singing: I love jazz, I love blues, I love Aretha Franklin –
she’s my favorite singer. I love Mahalia Jackson. I was very lucky to meet so many artists from the gospel scene,
from the American gospel scene, and that’s sometimes just incredible.”
For example:
“I met Carlos Santana. Maffay was playing – there was a concert. And he called me, and you know why?”
I didn’t know either, he called me into his dressing room and wanted to play for me, wanted to play me his favorite
gospel songs. I’ll never forget it, it was a long time ago, but I won’t forget that. He told me he really wanted to play me
his favorite gospel songs and I loved what I heard.”
“Incredible – simply amazing.”
“That’s really true.”
“We were in the dressing room and he played all kinds of different songs for me, all his favorite songs, and he almost
missed going on stage.”
“Oh my goodness.”
“This is a true story.” “I have some good stories.”
“Please, tell me more.”
“Life gives us the best stories, and that’s why I’m here today, Felicia.
“Many things have to do with singing.”
“When I had my band, we started in London and I was about 17 years old. My dad came over, and the band was called
“We had a ‘style-pass’ and played many different types of music, and that’s when I met Ken in Basel – in Switzerland.
I was playing with my band in Basel, Switzerland. And he had a different band, his band – not his own, but he
was a band member of a group that was very big and popular in England and was on a European tour at the time.”
“He always came to the venue because they played before us. Then he came back because he really liked what we
were doing. That’s how I first met Ken, and that’s really how it was.”
“That’s so crazy, he talks about it, but at first, I didn’t even notice him.”
“That’s really true, Ken knows the story.”
“We played different songs, the original ones were about 3-4 minutes long. And then we had one song –
I don’t even remember how many different versions we played, and that went on for about 20 minutes,
just that one song. Ken joined the band a few months later, and we’ve been together ever since, and that was almost 50 years ago.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful!”
“And that was my school, my learning, because we played all the time. We played with that band all over Europe.
I sang from 8 PM until 3 AM.”
“I sang for hours and hours and didn’t realize how late it was. The songs were just way too interesting for me.”
“I started from different parts of the song, I can’t really explain it, but that’s how it was for me.”
“And that was always the case, over many years.” “Then we went to Munich… :)”
“The door opened, and Ken looked in, we had to laugh, it was just so funny.”
“Then we went to Munich, and Ken held many studio sessions for kids and adults, and I did too.
That was the time with Frank Farian, Boney M, the Silver Convention, and many others.”
“Many things happened in my life, many things, so many things.” “It’s all true, and it was very interesting.”
“Do you still have your gospel choir?
“You know, my gospel group had many great singers, the best from all over the country, just as you could wish for.
I’ve been everywhere and found these people. I found them because I wanted to; I wanted the music to be really good.
I grew up in London and was used to good music. Sometimes, I was disappointed by what I heard,
like on the radio or wherever.
I thought to myself, ‘No, No, No.’
“We have to do this, we definitely have to do this, because there are so many singers who never get the chance
to perform on TV or wherever. That’s why I brought so many people together, and we had the choir for many years.
It was a really big choir.
Many different people, American stars and others, came and we did a TV show, sang live, even in the Festhalle
and at many other events. They called me, and I was lucky they asked me: ‘Felicia, would you please do this and
that for us, and sing with your choir for us.’
“Then I always took the best people I knew, and that was my choir.”
“Wonderful.”
“And the thing is, time passes, and people move to different countries and whatever, so people change.
Everyone lives their life, and it goes on, and that was the idea. I’ve been doing this for years.
Sometimes people call me and ask – just like you’re asking me – if I have my gospel choir together,
and mostly I say no, because I don’t want to take anyone from my gospel choir. They have to be the best,
and if I don’t know the best, I’d rather say ‘No, I don’t have a gospel choir.’
“Yes, but that’s good.”
“That’s what I do.”
“That’s a good mindset, really.”
“Leon, for example, he was a kid when he became part of my gospel choir. I mean, I can’t really explain it,
but that’s how it is.”
Leon is one of Felicia and Ken’s sons, and he already has his own family and is a musician too.
“Why gospel?”
“Oh, darling, that’s a good question.”
“Because I feel gospel, that’s the reason. I feel it. ‘Because I know God is watching over me, I know He is,
that’s all I can say.’”
“Like your mother said: ‘Listen to your heart.’”
“Hey darling, absolutely right. Absolutely right. ‘That’s how I’ve been my whole life – really.’”
“That’s perfect.”
“I don’t know how perfect it is, but that’s just how it is. Sometimes it gets me into trouble, yes, sometimes
it gets me into trouble. Some people don’t understand why I don’t do something. I’ve had many opportunities,
and I’ve had many chances in my life to do all kinds of things
in the field of singing, but there are some things I just don’t do. ‘Period.’”
“I understand that, and you listen to your heart when you say ‘no.’”
“That’s why I can come here and sing, I enjoy singing here, just like I enjoy singing in a TV show or wherever.
I’ve done TV shows for years. For example: ‘The World Hunger Relief,’ every year, for more than 10 years, I did that.
My choir just supported everyone and accompanied everyone who sang there, no matter who, from all over the world,
all kinds of people. I enjoyed doing it, the people were nice, and I think this is no nonsense, and I do it.
I have to be honest with myself, I have to.”
“I think it’s sometimes one of the hardest things in life.”
“But I do it. Because God is watching over me, I feel it. ‘I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to do,
I don’t have to, and I won’t do it.’ ‘And I don’t care who asks me, really, I do this.’ If something bothers me,
like I just said – I walk away. ‘I just walk away from it.’”
“Yes, that’s true, I’ve thought about it, yes, that’s probably the best way to handle it.”
“What was your first song?”
“My very first song?”
“Oh my God, I don’t know. I can’t remember it, I can’t tell you my first song anymore, but I can tell you the
first thing I learned to read, I can tell you that.”
„Yes, please.”
“Because my mother showed it to me. She told me that she taught me to read by reading Psalm 23
from the Bible.” “She told me that. I can tell you that.” “I don’t know what my first song was, but I can tell you that,
I know that.”
“Great that you still remember that.”
“Because she told me.”
“And you composed your own song ‘Celebration’?”
“And many other songs that are on the album ‘Gospel Meets Soul Classics.’ That’s the album I made at the
Hansa Studios in Berlin.”
“We were five of us, me, Pad, and 3 guys, and that was the choir. All the voices you hear there are exactly those.
And you know, in the studio, we just did it, I came up with the harmonies and thought – this is what I think,
and I tell them. ‘Then I record it, and we do this and that, and that’s how it really sounds great.’
“But on this album, it’s just the five of us throughout the whole album.”
“Do you know the album, have you ever heard it?”
“I’ve listened to some of your songs on your website.”
“Well, I’ll send you something, I’ll send you the album, and there’s another one we made for the children in Tanzania.”
“Oh wow!”
“Have you heard it?”
“No.”
“That’s really interesting. See this page here, this thing to make a donation.”
“It’s a long story, but we don’t have much time to tell the whole story, but…”
“I have all the time in the world.”
“We went to Tanzania because friends of ours have open schools and kindergartens there, and I
couldn’t help it. I went there and wanted to sing with those kids because I knew those kids could sing.
They could do something with their whole bodies. ‘From their mouths comes something that will be on a CD,
and I know it will be on a CD because I’m just sure it will be that way.’
“I went there and taught them how to sing. 350 children in the school. And they sang. The first time I went alone,
the second time Ken came with me.”
“I brought a portable studio to Tanzania, we have a small home studio at home, and then Ken had the task
of cleaning it up because it was in a big hall, there are trees, birds, and animals and everything.
There’s a lot of noise around – and this album is also there, it’s on the website. ‘It’s online.’”
“We made the album for the children from Tanzania.
“Everyone sang on it, Stefan Remmler, Udo, Peter Maffay, everyone sang on it. I asked them: ‘Please,
would you like to sing on this and that song?’ and everyone sang on this album.”
“These children didn’t speak English or German, they spoke Swahili. You know, for me, it was a challenge,
and it was a rewarding challenge because it was very, very interesting to do. All these stars, they sang on the album
with joy, and they weren’t the stars of the CD, the children were the stars of this CD.”
“And when I send you the album, you can read everything, everything is written there.
Johannes Oerding is also on it, many people are on the CD.”
“That’s amazing, that’s so great.”
“It is, because if I can do everything, I want to tell people about Jesus, that’s what I do. I don’t want to make
anyone believe what I believe, I just want to tell them, at least I tell them.
That’s all, just tell them. They can form their own opinion, and maybe years later, they’ll remember something,
whatever. You know, but I just want to tell them because I know it’s something that’s true. That’s all I can say.”
“Yes, absolutely right.”
“And if you ask me what I love to sing the most? It’s definitely Gospel. And I really sing all kinds of different songs,
I have a band in Austria, we go there, I go there. One or two times a year, it’s a great band with great musicians,
they are fantastic, really fantastic guys. I’ve sung with the Maffay tour, I’ve sung with Helene Fischer, Sarah Connor –
and many others. But that’s not the point. The point is, I just love to sing Gospel, I can’t explain it.”
“That’s where your heart is.”
“Big time, absolutely, and it has to do with my Mom. She told me about Jesus. I didn’t say it out there,
but it’s true. My Mother was everything. Do you hear me?”
“Great, absolutely, and it has to do with my mother. She told me about Jesus. I didn’t say it out loud, but it’s true.”
“My mother was everything. Do you hear me?”
“I hear you!”
“The strongest woman I know was my mother. The strongest woman I know, and positive, and she had a sense of humor.”
“2004 you won the first European Gospel Award ever given.”
“Yes, that’s true.”
“Wonderful, wonderful!”
“Yes, that’s an absolutely wonderful thing that happened, yes, that’s it, that’s it! I can’t say anything else but
that, yes, that’s it!” “It’s wonderful.”
“It happens because it’s meant to be, and it comes from your heart, and that’s why it will be so fantastic.
Much higher, warmer, and with more love than anyone could imagine. There’s no plan, it comes from the heart,
something that has its own condition.”
“That’s true.”
“And maybe it sounds funny to you when I say this, but I had a really bad cold, it was my cough, a very bad cold.
Markus came to us, came to my house, we have a piano in the living room, and Markus said, ‘I thought,
wow Felicia, I hope you manage this because you have a really bad cold. It’s really incredible.'”
“You went to the show
with
right?!”
“It was ‘Earth Song’ with his song: ‘Earth.’ That was his first performance with ‘Earth Song’ on ‘Wetten, dass…?!'”
“Wow, so beautiful, I didn’t see it – that’s a shame.”
“It’s on YouTube.”
“On my website, I have two websites, and if you click on it, it says ‘The first website.'”
“That was Michael Jackson.”
“People from Sony came to our table and asked if I would do it. I don’t even know how they came up with
the idea of asking me. I don’t know. They did, and I said okay.” “There were 65 singers, including children.”
“I have one more question.”
“You met the Pope and sang for the Pope, right?!”
“I met him, and I sang, and he laid his hands on my hands and listened to the song ‘Celebration.'”
“What a great moment.”
“Yes, it was. I was so happy because he understood the words, and he looked at me and held my hands
and understood what I wanted to say. ‘That’s a great moment.’ ‘That’s all I can say, that’s it, that’s all I can say.'”
“Because I believe, I think the whole world – everyone is equal, don’t tell me about black, white, or whatever, I don’t care.”
“Absolutely.”
“Everyone lives, and as long as we live, we should love each other and take care of each other, and that’s all that matters, that’s
all I can say.”
“Susanna, thank you because the lady has been waiting for me for so long.”
“Thank you for taking the time for the interview.”
Best regards,
Susanne Panhans
Advertising texts, PR stories, photoshoots, and everything that makes you visible, you can get from me.
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