Jaci Velasquez and Salvador’s Nic Gonzales are a match made in heaven. Though it’s been a long road to get to where they are today, 2008 finds the couple enjoying a year of all things new…She says, “He is like Superman. He brings the best out of everyone he comes in contact with.”
He says, “[She] allows me to be honest about exactly who I am.”
She’s an international superstar who signed her first record deal at the age of 14.
He’s the lead singer of an award-winning band that’s known for its high-energy live shows.
Together, they have released 21 albums and amassed numerous accolades and chart-topping hits.
Jaci Velasquez and Salvador’s Nic Gonzales are quite the power couple. And since their marriage in December 2006, their lives have changed dramatically—both personally and professionally. On November 3, 2007, the couple welcomed their first child, Zealand David. Both will tell you that the past few years have been quite an eye-opening experience.
“After marrying Nic, things changed,” Jaci says. “We were learning to live together and trying to consider the other person in every choice we made.”
“Let’s just say that I understand what it means to feel God’s love more and more every day,” adds Nic.
It’s obvious that marriage and family have transformed both Velasquez and Gonzales, and the personal has no doubt slipped into the workings of their respective new albums. However, Velasquez is quick to point to the inward change as the catalyst for the growth in her life over the years of her already storied career. “If anything has changed, it’s been me,” she admits. “I used to find my whole and complete identity in music, and my life has taught me how dangerous that is. I honestly am grateful to have learned that there is more to me than music, career and success.”
NOTHING BUT SKY
The new perspective is evident on Velasquez’s face as she shares the story of how she and Gonzales reconnected after years of being apart with the giddiness of a schoolgirl. Though in relating the story of their courtship (she and Nic dated briefly years ago when they were younger and signed to the same label), she is careful to not dismiss her past marriage as simply a detour. She’s candid about the lessons she’s learned along the way and certain that she’s finally gotten it right.
Her first marriage ended in divorce in 2005, and Velasquez moved to London for a short time, admitting that she was trying to run away from her problems. It was across the pond that Velasquez recorded 2005’s
Beauty Has Grace (Word), a departure into indie rock territory and quite a surprise to listeners who had been faithful followers of her previous Adult Contemporary pop fare.
Her brand-new release,
Love Out Loud (A'postrophe), finds Velasquez basking once again in the center of her pop roots and writing songs about her current stage in life. “After ZZ came along, I found myself writing songs about he and his daddy. I’ve found that nothing is really as important as my two boys. Both music and ministry take a backseat to the family that God has put in my life now,” shares Velasquez.