All of us plant seeds. And the thing about those seeds is you never know where they will sprout or how much of a harvest they will manifest. Because Gail Hamilton Masondo was my mother, I know, for certain, that when she moved to Nashville, she had absolutely no idea of the kind mark that she would leave on the city — and even though she has been in South Africa for about 30 years at this point, the rippling effects still continue stateside.
To get into all of the amazing things that she accomplished would require a docuseries — one that is well-deserved. For now, I’ll just say that if you are fan of the multi-award-winning group Take 6, my mother managed them during their first two albums (a fun fact is she wrote “Let the Words” from their debut LP and the group actually paid homage to her in one of their podcasts a few years back: “Spread Love Podcast #31 – Gail Masondo”). If every Christmas time, you find yourself playing the “Hallelujah” chorus from the GRAMMY-winning project, Handel’s Messiah: A Soulful Celebration, she was a co-executive producer on that project. An advocate for marginalized voices in country music? She was one of the original members of the Black Country Music Association. Thoroughly enjoy projects that feature nothing but women’s voices? She co-executive produced the CCM projects, Sisters (Songs Of Friendship, Joy And Encouragement For Women) and Sisters: The Story Goes On. And honestly, all of this merely skims the surface of her impact. While co-executive producing yet another album, Place of Hope, she took her first trip to South Africa, met the co-executive producer on that side of the waters, South African music legend in his own right, Victor Masondo. Between them, music was made, love was cultivated (check out “bAw African Love Series: Victor & Gail Masondo (Episode 1)”) and there, as his wife, she found her second home — along with a rebrand, of sorts, because although her passion for music never left her, her intrigue for the inner workings of the human mind took precedence. As a result, she became a chaplain, a life coach and even authored a book, along with conceptualizing Brown Sugar Dreams, an initiative designed to inspire self-esteem in young African girls (Dionne Warwick and Oleta Adams are two celebrities who endorsed it).
A mother of two (Shellie Renée Warren and Jonathan Christian Hamilton AKA Zion), a grandmother of one (Noah Thato Hamilton) and mentor to literally hundreds, it’s beyond beautiful that Gail Hamilton Masondo was able to see 75 years of such a full life (June 15, 1950) and then was able to rest in her faith in God on July 25, 2025 (she actually wrote and recorded a song about seeing the Lord: “When I Get Home”).
Well done doesn’t even begin to cut it. Rest well, mom. It’s beyond deserved and extremely earned.
-SHELLIE WARREN
