Promising Gospel Songstress, Rachel Lamptey, over the weekend pulled a large crowd at the launch her maiden album.
The launch of Rachel’s first gospel album christened: “Alive Today,’ came off at the Watered Gardens Church near Dansoman Roundabout, Accra.
The whole church auditorium was filled to capacity with some who could not find space inside watching the event outside the church auditorium.
The event also witnessed performances from gospel musicians who thrilled patrons with soothing songs. The Alive Today album has 10 tracks.
Speaking to Entertainment Today on the sidelines of the launch, an overly elated Mr. Richmond Lankwei Lamptey, who is Rachel’s husband, thanked the industry players who came to support his wife.
“If anybody had told me years back that my wife can sing I wouldn’t have believed until she recorded this album, which I had the chance to listen to, and in fact we worked on it together,” expressed Mr Lamptey.
Profile
Born to Ghanaian parents, Rachel is the second of four children. Her late father, Mr Seth Tetteh Ashong-Katai, was a renowned writer, filmmaker and poet.
In fact, Rachel took after his father.
Though the introvert type, Rachel never shied away from singing in choirs, acting plays and reciting poems or Bible quotations regularly in church.
She did all the above to the admiration of people who witnessed her perform.
In high school (St. Monica’s Senior High), she wrote poems, one of which was featured in the school’s yearly magazine. After high school, she joined an amateur theatre company and was adjudged the Most Promising Actress in 1997 and the Best Actress in 1998 in the yearly Theatre Festivals organised by the Ghana Union of Theatre Societies.
All these laurels surprised those who knew Rachel when she was growing up. Significantly it did not end there.
Rachel trained as a Stenographer Secretary but because of her interest and her God-given talent, she earned a place in the National Drama Company and worked as a professional actress for a while.
Here, she learnt how to play the flute and performed with it during musical performances by the Drama Company.
She also featured in several award-winning plays and movies both locally and internationally. Among these were—Ananse, Without Her Consent, The Leopard’s Choice, Wedlock of the Gods, Run for Your Wife etc.
Rachel holds a Bsc. in Business Administration from the Central University and currently reading for an M.A in Religious Studies from the same university.
She has worked with Glory Oil Company Limited, Gateway Services Limited (member of Cotecna Group), among others.
Currently she manages some family businesses including a dry cleaning company.
But in spite of all these, she makes time to rehearse for performances because of her passion for singing.
She intimated that her membership of different choirs for many years has made her realise that music is the backbone of Christianity and a great tool in evangelism.
According to her, “it [music] is the only medium that can make people cry, laugh, and dance and can get them glued to Christ.”
She is happily married with three children.
