Jaci Velásquez: Leaving the Storm Behind

We first met her when she was just 18, and we remember her as the girl with the sweet voice who conquered music charts with hits like “Llegar a ti” and “Cómo se cura una herida.” She sold 3.5 million albums, earned acknowledgements from Latin Billboard and Premio Lo Nuestro, and introduced herself to Hollywood alongside Eduardo Verástegui, Roselyn Sánchez and Sofía Vergara in the film Chasing Papi. But just when we thought Jaci Velásquez was unstoppable, she suddenly disappeared from the music scene.

In 2005, Velásquez went on hiatus at age 24 after getting divorced from Darren Potuck, a decision that forced her to step back from her passion since she was a little girl: music. In an attempt to heal her wounds and start over, the artist sold all her belongings in the United States and moved to England. “I had to take time off and find my identity outside of music,” says the 28-year-old singer, he explains that the trip showed her that you have to face your problems, rather than just run away from them. For this reason she headed back to the States where, with the help of therapy, she managed to find the calm after the storm.

One thing that helped Velásquez during her internal struggle was creating new music. “It was therapeutic for me to write songs,” she explains, acknowledging that her songs could help other people get through hard times. This is how her new album Loving Out Loud came about. The record – which was produced by the young artist's own label Apostrophe Records – goes on sale March 18.

Despite their dramatic roots, the songs on the disc don't talk about failed relationships or experiences, but instead reflect a hopeful, happy and, yes, in love Jacy Velásquez. Shortly after returning from England, the artist met up with an old flame: Nicolás González, 30, who was ready to fall back in love with her. Eight months later, in December 2006, the lovebirds were married. “I realized that he was genuine,” she says of her husband, who joins her on the track “Por escrito,” of which she laughs, “It´s a little love story. We´re cheesy.” The happy couple welcomed their first son, Zealand David González, last November.

One last wound that Velásquez needed to heal was the one that resulted from her parents' divorce when she was a teenager, a breakup that distanced her from her father. And while the successful song “Cómo se cura una herida” from Mi corazón (2001) talks about how she could never forgive her father, the song “It's Not You” from her new album addresses her need to forgive him. When she got a phone call from her dad last year, Velásquez realized that “we can´t change other people, I can´t change him. I can only forgive him, let it go and change the way I feel for him.”

And even though the artist has returned to music, she makes it clear that her priorities have changed. When asked if she would consider returning to film, she responds: “I would not be opposed to it. But…my main priority is serving God, then my husband, then my little boy, then my music and the after that, anything else that God has in store.”

Click to hear her new song!

Love Out Loud