Gospel powerhouse Tamela Mann recently sat down with EBONY to discuss her anointed voice, hitting the stage with Tyler Perry, and wrapping up the experience with the Madea Farewell Tour. Mann began singing at 8 years old, knowing even then she had the ability to move people with her gift. “By the time I got 12, I kind of knew that I had a gift that was kind of unusual for a lot of the other kids. Then, I didn’t know it was anointing, it was just like a special gift!” When it comes to influences, Mann was raised in a strict, gospel-only home, coming up on Walter Hawkins, The Clark Sisters and other legends in the music ministry. As far as secular artists, Aretha Franklin was the singer who struck that perfect balance for Mann, embracing popular music without loosing her Christian roots. The actress then shares how she met longtime friend and collaborator, Tyler Perry. Husband, David Mann, flew to Chicago to pitch himself as an actor to Perry, telling the writer and director that he and Tamela were a packaged deal. After touring for years, Mann calls the farewell tour “bittersweet,” revealing that her favorite of Perry’s stage plays is I Can Do Bad All By Myself. She also expresses interest in furthering her stage career with a role on Broadway. Check out the clip above and pick up Tamela and David’s book, Us Against the World, on Amazon.com.