How a nickname became a vessel for healing and global music
In short: Yebba’s journey from a church front row to the Grammy stage is rooted in a profound personal loss. By reclaiming a childhood nickname, she transformed a private tragedy into a public platform for mental health advocacy, proving that the most personal stories often resonate the most universally.
Yebba, born Abigail Elizabeth Smith in 1995, began her musical life in the pews of her father's church in West Memphis, Arkansas. Influenced heavily by The Clark Sisters, she spent a significant portion of her life performing in the front row. This foundation of gospel music deeply informed her vocal style and her approach to songwriting as a means of honest expression.
Her career trajectory shifted dramatically in 2017 following the suicide of her mother. Yebba wrote and performed the song "My Mind" just a week before her mother's death, a performance so moving it reportedly moved Ed Sheeran to tears. This period of profound grief led her back to the church—a place she had become estranged from—seeking the sense of family and honesty she felt was dissolving. She chose her professional name, Yebba, as a tribute to her mother, who had used the nickname (her name Abbey written backwards) since her childhood.
Since then, Yebba has balanced high-profile collaborations with major artists like Drake, Ed Sheeran, and Sam Smith with a commitment to advocacy. She won a Grammy in 2019 for her work with PJ Morton and has used her platform to release music for free to honor her mother's memory. By sharing her experiences with mental health through her music, she turned a personal nickname into a symbol of resilience and artistic honesty.
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