Blessing Offor

About

The youngest of six, Blessing immigrated from Nigeria to the U.S. with his uncle at the age of six. Blessing’s parents selflessly sent their son to America in the hope that he’d be able to receive medical care for his glaucoma. Several years later, a powerful spray from a water gun damaged his retina, removing the sight in his right eye, just as he was starting to learn piano. Yet, the disability did not deter him. When other kids went out to play ball, Blessing found himself behind the ivories obsessing over Stevie Wonder’s “Ribbon in the Sky,” realizing that music would forever be a part of his story.

When asked how he reconciles his blindness with his faith, he asks, “Is God only good when things are awesome? Because surely the answer can’t be ‘yes’. Why should we expect that nothing bad should ever happen to us? Am I the only one dealing with bad things?” he asks. “So that is the road map, so to speak, to kind of understand why it’s OK when bad things happen. My faith and my life are not compartmentalized parts of me. It’s in everything, even when I write love songs. If you’re OK with me being myself, then I’m in; because at the end of the day, I want to be myself.”

Now, Blessing’s co-writing resume reads like that of a veteran. They include Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash, Natalie Hemby, Dallas Davidson, Tyler Hubbard (Florida Georgia Line), Breland, Trevor Rosen (Old Dominion), Lucie Silvas, Corey Crowder and Sarah Buxton. He’s also been featured on recent projects from both Tomlin and Lee Brice.

Blessing’s track “Tin Roof,” co-written with Natalie Hemby, shows that his compass is always pointing back to his roots. The shortbread stark performance of solo piano and vocal allow the song’s message to soar, that there is something heavenly about home – a sense of comfort that no material thing can match. No matter the riches that are promised when our work here is done, there is nothing like “rain on a tin roof, washing away my sorrows, giving me faith to follow a new tomorrow.”