The First Thing I'll See

Teresa Fay Gibbs was born June 15, 1954 in Miami, Florida but raised in the Augusta, Georgia suburb of Grovetown. She was born blind and she learned to play piano at age three. As a child, she sang in the church choir and at talent contests, and at age seventeen, she opened for "Whispering" Bill Anderson.

 Eventually, she met Chet Atkins, who advised her to move to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue a country music career, which she did when she turned eighteen. After failing to find a record deal, she returned to Miami and joined a band called Sound Dimension. She continued to perform locally. She formed a band called the Terri Gibbs Trio. Terri eventually sent a demo tape to record producer Ed Penney of MCA Records and she signed with MCA label in 1980.

Her first single release was "Somebody's Knockin'," which was also the title of her debut album. This song was a crossover hit upon its 1981 release and it reached #8 on the U.S. country charts, #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the Adult Contemporary charts. Her debut album won her the Academy of Country Music's Top Female Vocalist award. She was also the first winner of the Country Music Association's Horizon Award (which is awarded to emerging artists) and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Song for "Somebody's Knockin'." Terri Gibbs has also performed on the Grand Ole Opry.

She later shifted her focus to Contemporary Christian music, recording Turn Around and Comfort the People in 1987 and 1988, respectively, on Canaan Records. She won her second Grammy nomination. She has since retired from the music business.
She married Grovetown, Georgia city councilman David Daughtry on April 28, 1988, and remained married to him until his death in February 2008. They had one son, David Wayne Daughtry II, born October 20, 1989.

This song is by Terri Gibbs. I heard this song the other day and it moved me to tears. I just sat and wept. It reminded me of the words Jesus said to the messenger that John the Baptist had sent to him...

Jesus said, "...go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the good news preached to them." (Luke 7:22, ESV)