May 18: Christian musician Francesca Battistelli is 28-years-old today.

Francesca Battistelli received her first Grammy Award 2009 nomination for "Best Gospel Performance" with her single Free To Be Me. Her Battistelli's music is the mix of several different genre labels. Her style has been described as a blend of her music interests—jazz, rock, gospel and R&B.

Battistelli has said that when she first began writing music, "I really longed to bring something authentic to the [Christian music] scene that even non-Christians could listen to."

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Francesca Battistelli was born in New York City. She grew up in a musical family with both of her parents involved in musical theatre. She says she knew she was going to spend her life performing after seeing a performance of the musical The Secret Garden on Broadway at the age of six.

When she was 15 she became a member of the Orlando, Florida all-girl mainstream pop group Bella. The group's touring performances included singing and dancing. After the group disbanded, Battistelli picked up the guitar and began writing songs.

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As an independent artist in 2004, Battistelli released her debut album, Just a Breath. In early 2008, she released the I'm Letting Go EP exclusively through iTunes on Fervent Records which contains four songs, including the title track. All four songs were included on her first major label studio album, My Paper Heart, which was released on July 22, 2008. The album was produced by Dove Award-winning producer Ian Eskelin, and was published through Word Distribution.

from Francescamusic.com

Her first radio single, "I'm Letting Go," was released in spring 2008. The song had reached into the top 20 on R&R's Christian CHR charts by May 2008. In early July 2008, the song reached #10 on Christian CHR charts. My Paper Heart debuted at #1 on iTunes in July and was in the top 10 Christian albums for 4 weeks.

Battistelli began a period of touring in the U.S. during early 2008, playing solo concerts as well as performing with fellow Fervent Records band Big Daddy Weave. She performed at several Christian music festivals during mid-2008, such as Spirit West Coast in California and Alive Fest.
 

Her debut single "I'm Letting Go" reached #3 on R&R's Christian CHR and AC charts during mid to late 2008. Her next single, "Free to Be Me," reached #1 on the R&R Christian CHR format in March 2009, and has held the top position for 9 consecutive weeks through the beginning of May.

Battistelli joined tobyMac, Hawk Nelson, Brandon Heath and others on the Winter Jam 2009 tour, the nation's largest annual Christian music tour, which ran from January through March 2009.

francesamusic.com

On November 23, 2009, Battistelli's song "It's Your Life" was featured on the series finale of Jon & Kate Plus 8 and The Biggest Loser. It's Your Life Peaked at Top 200 Itunes USA and join the 46 positions and 29 on Itunes Canada.

Battistelli toured on Winter Jam again for 2011 and released a second studio album, Hundred More Years, in March. The album was preceded by the release of a single, This Is The Stuff, in early 2011. "It's Your Life" was in the movie Soul Surfer in early 2011. Francesca's track "Blue Sky" featured on the Hollister Playlist for December 2009.

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For more, please visit Francesca's Website at -

http://www.francescamusic.com/

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