Getting her start harmonizing with members of her family in faith-based vocal group the Isaacs, Sonya Isaacs Yeary was born in LaFollette, Tennessee, on this day (July 22) in 1974. As a solo artist, she has sent five singles to the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart—including the top 40 hit “No Regrets Yet” in 2003. Along with her husband, singer-songwriter Jimmy Yeary, she wrote the song “I’m Gonna Love You Through It”, Martina McBride’s most recent top 10 hit to date. Today, we’re taking a look at the life and career of Sonya Melissa Isaacs.
Sonya Isaacs’ Musical Career Started Before She Was Born
Raised near Morrow, Ohio, Sonya Isaacs grew up between two worlds. Her mother, Lily, was born in post-World War II Germany to two Polish Jewish Holocaust survivors. Meanwhile, her father, Joe, was one of 19 children born to a Pentecostal preacher father.
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However, music was always there to bridge the cultural divide. Lily Isaacs grew up studying theater and performing on Off Broadway in the Bronx, New York. In 1968, she recorded a folk album on Columbia Records with a friend as “Lily and Maria.”
Lily met Joe while he was performing with his Kentucky bluegrass band at the Gerde’s Folk City in Manhattan.
The pair married in 1970 and started their own bluegrass gospel band, which they first dubbed the Calvary Mountain Boys and then Sacred Bluegrass before settling on the Isaacs.
As their three children—Sonya, sister Becky, and brother Ben—grew old enough, they each joined their parents onstage.
“My girls started their career in bluegrass before they were born,” Lily said. “I can’t remember a time when they weren’t on stage with us… I think Sonya was playing with us by the time she was seven years old.”
Other Musical Endeavors
In addition to playing mandolin and singing with her siblings, Sonya Isaacs released one self-titled album through Lyric Street Records in 2000. Three of those tracks reached the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
Her next charting song appeared on the label’s multi-artist collection No Wrapping Required: A Christmas Album. And in 2003, her highest-charting single, “No Regrets Yet”, peaked at number 36 on the country charts despite never appearing on an album.
In December 2009, Sonya married singer-songwriter Jimmy Yeary, whose resume includes songs recorded by Joe Diffie, Rascal Flatts, and Lee Brice.
Along with songwriter Ben Hayslip, the couple wrote the song “I’m Gonna Love You Through It”, inspired by Lily Isaacs’ battle with cancer. Martina McBride recorded the track for her 2011 album Eleven. It rose to number four on the Hot Country Songs and nabbed McBride a Grammy nod for Best Country Solo Performance.
Additionally, Sonya Isaacs has written songs recorded by Trisha Yearwood, Leann Rimes, Vince Gill, Sara Evans and others.
[RELATED: Jimmy Yeary Cares About the Human Experience, Releases New Single, “Angeline”]
Winning several Dove Awards for her songwriting, she is also a frequent backing vocalist for artists like Reba, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gill and Carly Pearce.
Featured image by Jamie Gilliam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
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