Renowned gospel singer-songwriter from Atlanta dies, family says
She was not on the list.
The family says the trailblazer of The Anointed Pace Sisters, LaShun Pace has died. The gospel singer-songwriter was 60 years old.
Pace was on dialysis for five years waiting for a kidney and died of organ failure Monday morning, her sister, Lydia Pace told 11Alive's Shiba Russell.
The Atlanta native was part of the renowned sibling gospel group The Anointed Pace Sisters. Born in Atlanta's Poole Creek community, the Grammy-nominated group made up of nine sisters first shared their family melody in church and local talent shows before rising to gospel stardom.
Known for her hit songs "I Know I've Been Changed" and "Act Like You Know," Pace also carved out her own career and released solo albums. A snippet of LaShun’s 1996 hit ‘Act Like You Know’ recently became a TikTok trend, which Lydia said LaShun was so excited about, encouraging her to start working on another album.
Pace was also known for her kind and supportive heart, becoming friends with a young, ambitious filmmaker Tyler Perry. The playwright at the time was working on a new production when Pace came on board. The two remained friends ever since, with Perry touring a play sharing a name to one of Pace's works "I Know I've Been Changed."
Throughout their friendship, the producer even gifted Pace's mother a home, granting her dying wish to become a homeowner. The matriarch of the Pace family, Bettie Ann Pace, died at 82 in 2020. Pace and her mother were close.
Loved ones call LaShun the trailblazer of the family, moving them to love gospel and jazz music as well. She was the fifth oldest of all of her siblings.
Her death is the third loss for the Atlanta family within two years. The oldest of the sisters, Duranice Pace, passed away last year. LaShun is survived by seven of the nine Pace sisters and an adult daughter.
That daughter, Aarion Rhodes, is also a singer. She hopes to one day cover the songs her mother used to sing.
"It was important for me to share my gifts and not just my gifts but to share the character that she instilled in me... the woman she groomed me to be," she said.
Pace's singing and ministering skills were honed while she was on tour with the Rev. Gene Martin and the Action Revival Team, and in 1988 she recorded In the House of the Lord with Dr. Jonathan Greer and the Cathedral of Faith Church of God in Christ Choirs for Savoy Records. The label signed Pace as a solo artist soon afterwards and in 1990 she released her debut He Lives, which reached the number two spot on the Billboard gospel charts and featured her signature song "I Know I've Been Changed". The follow-up song Shekinah Glory, appeared in 1993. Three years later in 1996, Pace returned with Wealthy Place and a well known song “Act Like You Know” featuring Karen Clark Sheard from the legendary Clark Sisters. In addition to successive releases including 1998's Just Because God Said It, she also enjoyed a career as an actress, most notably co-starring as the Angel of Mercy in the 1992 Steve Martin film Leap of Faith.
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