Yolanda Adams Marks Return with Sunny Days Album — Her First Record in 13 Years (Exclusive)

Summer may be ending, but Yolanda Adams is keeping things sunny.

The gospel legend released her new album Sunny Days on Friday, Sept. 13 under Epic Records. This marks her first record in 13 years and her first major label release in 17 years.

Across 15 tracks — including two remixes of her lead single "Church Doors" — Adams, 63, reminds listeners why she's the reigning queen of contemporary gospel thanks to her signature blend of fresh production, inspirational lyrics and timeless vocals. The royal moniker caught on following the crossover success of her platinum-selling 1999 album Mountain High...Valley Low and its Hot 100-charting single "Open My Heart," which turned 25 earlier this month.

When looking back on her mainstream breakout success, Adams says putting together Mountain High...Valley Low came from a purpose-driven, genuine place.

"[I] just [loved] the process of getting those songs out of my head and heart onto a computer and into the ears and the hearts of people, because that's what music should do," Adams tells PEOPLE exclusively. "Music should always get into the heads, the hearts and the hands of people and their feet as well, because there should be some dancing because I love to dance."

The Houston-born songstress has worked with countless collaborators over her 35+ year career, but a host of her signature records, including "Open My Heart," were done with none other than Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis– the super-producer duo behind hit records from M ary J. Blige , Usher , Boyz II Men and, most notably, Janet Jackson .

For Adams, it was a "no-brainer" to work with Jam & Lewis back then and yet again on Sunny Days.

"Working with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis was totally awesome for me because Sylvia Rhone was at Elektra [as chairwoman and CEO] at the time and she told me, 'Get your wishlist out of producers that you want to work with. And you know, it doesn't matter who they are. We're going to record with them,'" Adams explains.

"And now the rest is history! 'Open My Heart,' 'Be Blessed,' 'This Too Shall Pass' — all of that good stuff, you know? So, yeah, I'm really excited. And the same excitement I had for Mountain High Valley Low is the same excitement I have right now, probably even more for Sunny Days."

The journey to completion for Sunny Days has been one filled with ups and downs and starts and stops dating back to 2018. Between playing schedule-tag with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the pandemic and filming the first two seasons of BET+'s soapy church drama Kingdom Business, Yolanda Adams realized that she had to set aside dedicated time to bring the project to completion.

And by 2023, it seemed like she had done just that— until Sylvia Rhone, who is now chair and CEO of Epic Records, made a suggestion.

"So between getting back in the saddle with the music at the end of 2023, we had everything," says Adams. "And then Sylvia Rhone was like, 'We need two more songs.' And of course, those two more songs wound up being the last two songs that we did — "Church Doors" and "Blessings" from Donald Lawrence and Sir, the Baptist."

"Church Doors," a spirited, Sunday morning track finds Adams testifying about overcoming life's obstacles, but it's a remix that soundtracks the official music video. Featuring the soaring vocals from the original version, Adams — flanked by colorfully dressed dancers — fills the screen with her Colgate-white smile and bops along to a '90s-inspired club mix by Terry Hunter.

When discussing her signature contemporary gospel proclivities — which typically fall in line with beats that are trending in pop, R&B, dance and hip-hop genres — Adams says that it's merely a reflection of her commitment to authenticity.

"There are too many people in the world who are trying to mimic their favorite, trying to sound like and fashion their words and fashion their life by the people that they admire," she says.

"And nothing's wrong with that, but then you cease to be yourself. And so because of the way I was raised in this very free-thinking family where everybody had their own voice and everybody had their own talents, I didn't feel any need to be anybody other than Yolanda."

And after decades in the music business, Adams, who turned 63 years old on Aug. 27, still feels blessed, inspired and grateful.

"You realize the blessing of getting older and wiser as you get older and wiser," Adams reflects. "And you realize that there's some people who never made it to this age. So I'm really excited about still being able to live my dreams out. [To] love what I do, have the most amazing family and friends that I can share everything with, having love and wonderment in my life. It's just great."