Star Swain recalls a 1999 band rehearsal where former Band Director Julian White, Ph.D. asked if anyone could sing and lead the Marching “100” performance of the hit gospel song “Order My Steps.”
“I remember him saying, ‘This may sound good with someone singing it.’ I certainly wasn’t going to raise my hand! But then others began shouting my name out,” Swain said.
As she took to the front of the room and sang her heart out, friend and current Godby High School Assistant Principal Benny Bolden remembers being in complete awe.
“She has a way of singing a song that captivates you into a trance,” he said. “Words can never explain the affect. From the moment I met her, I knew she would be a star,” he beamed.”
He continued, “That was the birth of her singing with the Marching “100” and when she did it in the Georgia Dome (during the Atlanta Classic), there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. I remember a reporter saying people were catching the Holy Ghost,” he laughed.
Performing in front of thousands of people with the famed band and her vocal training in her hometown of Macon, Ga., prepared Star for the attention she is now receiving. A video of Swain belting out the Star-Spangled Banner at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. last month has gone viral via social media- amassing millions of views worldwide and catapulting her onto the national stage. Since then, she has appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Inside Edition, and CNN to name a few.
The powerhouse performer and FAMU graduate says she still gets nervous, even after 14 years of acting as praise and worship leader at Family Worship and Praise Center, located on Branch Street in Tallahassee, Fla.
“The nerves you saw in that video were real. There were so many people looking at me and standing near me. It’s actually worse in church, where there are lives attached to the song and ministry,” she proclaimed.
Completely unrehearsed, Swain’s performance of the national anthem drew many onlookers and strong applause. Through music, she works to uplift others and inspire change. As for the changes she is going through, Swain’s personal life remains largely unchanged.
“When I’m on TV and I yell for my nine and four-year-old children to come into the living room to see mommy on TV, they smile and laugh but they don’t understand it. The gravity of the situation is not quite relevant to them at that age,” she explained.
In addition to being a wife and mother, Swain doubles as a doctoral student in educational leadership at Florida State University and as assistant principal of Jefferson County Middle High School, and loves singing for her students at events such as graduation.
Bolden, currently acting as Swain’s publicist, said if Swain does makes it big, he knows that she won’t forget her roots while delivering her message to the world.
“Regardless of where she goes, she’ll take ministry with her,” Bolden said. “’Bring them in, build them up and send them out is our church’s mission. And that is what is happening with Star – it is time to send her out,” he added.
