Kayla Denise Parker-Tolbert was an American gospel and Rhythm & Blues singer and songwriter.
Background
She was born Kayla Denise Parker to Richard and Aseneth Parker on June 29, 1971 in Detroit, Michigan. She showed an early interest in music, influenced by her father, a songwriter, producer and label executive who was discovered by Sam Cooke, and her mother, a jazz singer in nightclubs.
Career
As a songwriter, producer and backing singer, she worked with a number of gospel and Rhythm & Blues musicians, including CeCe, BeBe and Vickie Winans, Brandy, Anthony Hamilton, Michelle Williams of Destiny"s Child and Mark Kibble of Take 6. Her television appearances included Oprah, Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and her songs were performed on Good Morning America, Cable News Network, Black Entertainment Television and TBN among others Kayla became a Christian and continued to develop her musical ability as she served as an apprentice under the Minister of Music at Goodwill Community Chapel.
At Detroit"s Pershing High School she formed an all-female vocal group, taking the name "God"s Special Gift" after an audience member"s compliment.
As their fame spread, producer Michael Powell (Anita Baker) heard them and began working with them. At this point the group shortened their name to "Special Gift".
Their recordings and performances, riding the strength of Kayla"s songwriting, quickly earned them national recognition. This arrangement was later included on the album Ron Winans Family and Friends Volume 3.
Kayla joined Perfecting Church, whose pastor was Marvin Winans, in 1990.
Her song "Now Are We", performed by the Perfected Praise Choir, gained her national recognition. A fan of Twinkie Clark, Kayla would listen to the Clark Sisters and try to play their music at the church piano between services. When Twinkie Clark left the Clark Sisters, Kayla was chosen as their first background singer, a slot she held for a year.
She worked with Mark Kibble of Take 6 on gospel"s Grammyand Stellaraward-winning Donnie McClurkin"s first solo project
She did commercials with Fred Hammond and Eric Dawkins, wrote songs for Hammond"s second album, and wrote the hit "Now Are We" for Marvin Winans and the Perfected Praise Choir. She also sang backup for BeBe Winans, traveling to Europe and performing on Oprah Winfrey"s and Jay Leno"s shows.
She met superstar producer David Foster and sang on Brandy"s record, then moved to California. In 1999 Parker was diagnosed with cancer, and returned to Detroit for treatment and recovery.
After overcoming the disease, she returned to California, where she threw herself back into songwriting and also learned to engineer her own recording sessions.
Working with a producer friend, she pulled together recordings of a number of her songs, both gospel and inspirational Rhythm & Blues - - "life music," she calls it - - and looked to develop her own artistry. Her material was also recorded by other artists: CeCe Winans recorded "He"s Concerned About You," whose message of hope found a natural audience in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and Vickie Winans recorded the hit single "lieutenant"s Alright". Others including Rodney and Joy Jerkins and gospel jazz artist Tim Bowman have recorded material written by Parker.
In 2004, Kayla married David East. Tolbert.
Her music was played at the funeral of Coretta Scott King. Kayla Parker died on April 21, 2007 from breast cancer.
She is buried in Hillside Cemetery in Los Los Angeles The cemetery is also the resting place of Michael Landon, and Lorne Greene.