August Alsina Takes Praise Break on R&B Tour to Perform With Tasha Cobbs-Leonard
R&B singer August Alsina took a praise break on his "Don't Matter Tour" when he welcomed gospel music star Tasha Cobbs-Leonard to the stage to help him perform gospel musician Travis Greene's "Soul Will Sing."
Alsina, 24, is on a nationwide tour with fellow crooners Rotimi and Tone Smith, and decided to include a gospel set in his performance for fans who attended the Charlotte, North Carolina-leg of his tour on Aug. 3 when Cobbs-Leonard joined him on stage to perform a duet.
Before she took the stage, Alsina shared the backstory for the praise break and the struggle he endured to start the tour in July.
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"When I tell you the devil has been busy, the devil has been busy. But I called my friend and said, '[the devil] doesn't want me to do this tour,'" he told the audience. "My friend, she said, 'Aug, you've got to praise your way through it."
"My friend, she prayed for me and she prayed with me."
While he didn't mention Cobbs-Leonard as that friend in the introduction, he invited her on stage to help him sing the gospel song shortly after.
Alsina posted several video clips of the moment on Instagram, revealing the importance of praising in the midst of struggles in his caption.
"#DontMatterTourChronicles ‼️ CHURCH IN THE STREETS ‼️ ft. @tashacobbsleonard (PART 1)," Alsina captioned four separate Instagram posts of his performance with Cobbs. "When things feel as though they are breaking, WE go into our Praise Break!"
For years, Alsina has been vocal about his faith in the face of dealing with health problems, including a battle with liver disease. In 2015, Alsina revealed that he had eye surgery for a condition called Keratoconus which was causing a partial loss of vision.
A year earlier, Alsina collapsed on stage in New York City and suffered from a three-day coma. He credited God's grace for keeping him alive when thanking fans for their support.
"Recovery, it's a process. I woke from a coma. God gave me a second chance at life and I'd like to thank each and every person that sent any form and expression of love thru gift, card, flowers or simply your kind words and prayers," he wrote on Instagram in 2014. "I'm a hustler, I'm a worker, I overwork myself at times but I'm a survivor and still here by the grace of God and your prayers. #AlsinaNation #Squadd We still here & time to go harder!"
