WS Chronicle

By Busta Brown

In 2005, I was the emcee for Triad Idol at the Carolina Theatre in Greensboro. That was the night I heard one of the most beautiful, sweet, yet powerful singers ever. She sang Lauryn Hill’s rendition of Roberta Flack’s classic, “Killing me softly.” Afterward, she received a roaring standing ovation. “Thank you,” she said softly, with gratitude as she bowed to the audience. 

I had never been so excited to announce the winner of a talent competition. “The winner of Triad Idol is … Vanessa Ferguson!” I said with pride and excitement as if she was my little sister. If the name sounds familiar, it is. Vanessa became one of the top singers and musicians in North Carolina, both as a solo artist and front woman of her band. 

I caught up with Vanessa via Zoom. She had just woken up and looked absolutely gorgeous! “This is how I woke up,” joked Vanessa. 

I asked her when she knew singing was her gift. It eventually led her to national fame and a personal and professional relationship with a megastar. “When I was little Nessa, my mother sang with me in her belly. My grandmother is a singer; she’ll be 95 in September. My grandmother is an amazing soprano, so I grew up singing in the church.”

By the time Vanessa was eight years old, her family recognized she was going to be a star. “The director of the children’s choir gave me a solo while singing the Lord’s Prayer, which is a tough song to sing, especially for a little kid. After that, I would sing in church quite often and they would give me more leads,” shared Vanessa. She went on to win countless talent shows and perform at several local events as well.  She went on to win countless talent shows and perform at several local events as well.

Before becoming one of the most popular singers in her community and school, Vanessa Ferguson was known for basketball. But her dream of playing in college came to a halt  due to an illness. “I suffered with endometriosis. I was too sick during my senior year; I missed too many days of school. I had already missed basketball tryouts and too many days to qualify to be eligible to play,” she said. 

But God had bigger and better plans for Ferguson. The word began to spread about her dynamic shows, and she became one of the most sought-after performers internationally. She did a residency in Beijing, China, and then began touring with the B.B King Blues Club All-Star Band, with shows in Italy, France, Turkey, Spain, Panama, Portugal, Greece, Columbia, and Croatia. She’s performed and toured with some of the biggest names in the music industry. “I don’t want to say I was content with that but that was pretty satisfying,” said Vanessa, who was very chill and relaxing before hitting the Broadway stage in New York City later that day. We’ll get to that part of her journey later.

While gone for months, Vanessa came home sick. “My loved ones are really the most important thing to me, so being away is pretty difficult,” said Vanessa. 

After a few months, the New York native began to ask an important question: Do I want to go back to performing in clubs and weddings? What do I want to do? “It was the first time in my life where I was still. I’m a Capricorn, I try to be as in control of myself as possible.” She’s a true woman of faith, so it was time to let go of that control and surrender it to God, and then the journey began. 

“I didn’t know what to do or what I wanted at that time. Then I received an email one day. ‘Hey, we want you to come to the casting company for NBC’s The Voice.’ This would be a scheduled audition. One of my former band leaders and former producer, Gav Beats, was associated with this casting.” 

Vanessa is a true sweetheart. Humility should be her middle name because there are so many times she’s put the needs of others before her own. “I don’t feel gifts should be compared; I never have. I think it’s a weird concept.”

Her love for family is why she’s such a sweetheart, but that love was tested after the email from The Voice. She had a serious decision to make: Go to the audition or miss the funeral of a close family friend. “I was supposed to sing at the funeral on the day of the audition. I wanted to be there for my grandmother. They wanted me there to sing, and I wanted to be there to sing. I was on the program!” She continued, “My grandmother said, ‘Well, Dr. Jones would want you to go to the audition.’ So, I packed up my guitar and went to the audition. Vanessa rocked that audition! She was a Top 8 finalist on Season 12 of The Voice (Team Alicia Keys). “It was a pivotal moment, of course,” said a humble Vanessa Ferguson. 

Another monumental moment was her duet with the legendary Gladys Knight. “You could see during the performance that I was cheesing the whole time because this is just so surreal. This is a moment that’s going down in history. I’ll never forget it. Like, this is actually happening. It was a beautiful moment and something you know I’ll never forget,” Vanessa said with a soft and sweet smile. Vanessa had become Greensboro’s sweetheart. Mayor Nancy Vaughn proclaimed June 3, 2017, Vanessa Ferguson Day, and presented our beloved superstar with a Key to the City of Greensboro. 

During Vanessa’s time on The Voice with Alicia Keys, the two became very close friends. “We’re kindred spirits.  Alicia’s genuine, ambitious, a leader, confident and knows what she wants, yet, very down to earth. She’s a lot like me. Her mom introduces me to someone like one of her old friends who has known Alicia since she was a kid. Alicia’s mom just really took to me.  I think because I remind her so much of her daughter,” said Vanessa. 

Alicia Keys recently won two Tony Awards and 13 nominations for her Broadway play “Hell’s Kitchen.” It was one of the two most nominated musicals of this season. Vanessa’s new bestie didn’t leave her out. “I definitely want to try my hand at acting and this just kind of came right on time. She hit me up and said, ‘Listen, I have this reading that I want you to do. It might be something you enjoy doing’ and I was like OK, cool. I flew to New York. I did the reading. I got to meet people like Adam Blackstone, of whom I was a fan for a long time. And I get to be around Alicia again and work on something different and try my hand at acting. From the very first reading, I fell in love with it. I fell in love with the musical. This was like another full circle moment. These songs that I have performed throughout the years, and she’s putting them in a musical. And I get to be a part of singing those songs in different ways and I get to act,” said Vanessa.

The crew loved Vanessa and thought she was funny. “The writer, Kristoffer Diaz, was going back and writing new lines for me. Alicia was like, ‘Yo, you’re good, you’re funny.’ They kept calling me back for every single reading and workshop.” The pandemic came and shut things down for a bit, but they continued rehearsing via Zoom. “I was the one cast member who’s consistently there for every reading and every workshop. I play one of Alicia’s best friends, a real person, named Tiny. I’m also in the vocal ensemble and a vocal captain.” 

Alicia loved Vanessa’s writing and rapping skills as well. “She knew that I rapped because on The Voice I had written a rap, she wanted me to actually write in her musical, and that’s what I did. She gave me 16 bars and I presented it to her. She loved it and put it in her musical,” shared Ferguson. “I really like acting a lot, so I’m thinking I’ll stay in this world for a little bit. I’m not sure exactly what that looks like, but I’m definitely going to do more acting and filmmaking.”

I asked the Brooklyn, New Yorker how difficult it is to hit the stage each night while battling endometriosis?  “I’ve been suffering since I was 13, so that makes 26 years of excruciating suffering. I realized that the pain and suffering may not be going anywhere or isn’t going anywhere at the moment. So, if I’m gonna suffer anyway, I might as well be suffering on stage doing what I love. I was performing at a music festival a couple of years back. I was behind the stage where no one could see me, hunched over. I couldn’t stand up straight without being in pain. I had people rubbing on my back. I took my medication and I’m just feeling sick. I stand up straight and I go out on the stage and I’m performing. It was an amazing performance! I have some footage of that show and you can’t tell that I’m in pain. Life has a lot of cloudy days, so what are you going to do with it? You must find a way to enjoy it and push through.”

When asked what role does her family play during those cloudy days, Vanessa responded, “My family and really close friends are the only ones who know what it’s like when I’m lying on the floor because I can’t stand up. When I’m throwing up and in so much pain that I can’t cry. They see me, they know when I’m like, wishing to die, you know. They know how to care for me, where to put their hands on my back. They know where to lay the pillow. They know when to just let me lay on the floor and give me my meds. They know what I’m allergic to. They know when I can’t stand and when to dress me. Most people didn’t even know I have endometriosis until I started talking about it some years ago.” 

Vanessa’s aunt was in the hotel room during our interview, so I asked her to describe her niece in three words. She didn’t hesitate, “Strong, kind and loving.” Vanessa added, “Through the highs, the lows, the lefts and rights, you must practice gratitude. Find something to be grateful for because that creates a sense of happiness.” My Phenomenal Person of the Week is Vanessa Freguson. You can follow Vanessa on FaceBook under Vanessa Ferguson, @vanfergofficial on IG, or visit vanessaferguson.com.