A spokesman for the Franklin Police Department said officers were involved in an active death investigation Friday after Christian singer and “American Idol” alum Mandisa was found dead in her Nashville-area home one day earlier.
Mandisa, born in Citrus Heights, California, as Mandisa Lynn Hundley, was 47.
A rep for the singer, The Media Collective, issued a statement confirming her death Friday morning.
“At this time, we do not know the cause of death or any further details,” the statement reads. “We ask for your prayers for her family and close-knit circle of friends during this incredibly difficult time.”
Franklin police declined to confirm Hundley as the deceased in the death investigation, but the address of the home where the investigation is taking place has been tied to the singer via a records search.
“What I can confirm is that our officers responded to a residence for a death investigation Thursday evening, and it’s being actively investigated,” Franklin Police Department spokesperson Max Winitz wrote in an email to The Tennessean Friday.No other details were immediately released.
After growing up in California, Hundley attended Fisk University in Nashville and was a member of the famed Fisk University Jubilee singers. She graduated from Fisk in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in music, according to the university.
In 2005, Hundley auditioned for “American Idol” in Chicago, where she went on to finish in the final nine.
Hundley released her first album, “True Beauty” in July 2007, debuting on the Top Christian Album charts with her first single, “Only the World.”
The Christian artist would win best contemporary Christian Music Album for “Overcomer” at the 56th Grammy Awards in 2014.
