Chynna Phillips is One of 12 Stars Chosen for the 13th Season of Dancing with the Stars

The 13^th season of Dancing with the Stars kicks off on Monday, September 19, 2011 and one of the twelve stars who will be paired with a professional dancer is Chynna Phillips, daughter of John and Michelle Phillips, of the 1960’s folkrock group the Mamas and Papas. Chynna is also known for her own foray into rock through her 1990’s music group Wilson-Phillips and for being married to Billy Baldwin. Chynna sang with Wilson-Phillips for several years in the late 1980s and early 1990s along with Beach Boy Brian Wilson’s daughters Carnie and Wendy and the trio managed to pull off several #1 hits, a very successful debut album and several grammy nominations. Chynna married Billy Baldwin, one of the four famous Baldwin brothers, in 1995.

Chynna’s dancing partner on DWTS will be the suave Tony Dovolani who has achieved top awards in the world of professional ballroom dancing. This will be Tony’s 12^th season on DWTS.

Chynna has stated that her goal on DWTS is to raise awareness for the 40,000 homeless orphans roaming the streets in Tijuana, Mexico. Chynna, a fluent Spanish speaker, is currently working with The Angelitos Orphanage and her short term goal is to build a 60-room dorm for the children. More info about the orphanage can be found at www.losangelitos.org and donations can also be made at the site.

After struggling through a difficult childhood of her own, surrounded with drug abuse this was what she had been seeking. Though she had it all—fame and fortune, a great husband and kids, she still had a feeling of emptiness inside. She got on her knees and told God she was ready to commit her entire life to serving Him, and she asked God to reveal Himself to her.

A week later, Stephen and Kennya Baldwin were praying for a niece who was having a difficult time. Kennya suddenly told Chynna that she felt the Holy Spirit was leading her to pray over Chynna. She did and Chynna immediately felt a rush within her and she was filled with the Holy Spirit. God had answered her prayer and He had revealed Himself to her!

Soon after making Jesus the Lord of her life, Chynna began to have the desire to write music that would praise God. She began praying to God that He would bring someone in her life that would have the same vision she had with whom she could write and perform music. Her contemporaries in the music writing business tried to discourage her from using the name of Jesus in her songs. But she insisted she had to say “Jesus!”

Shortly afterwards she met Vaughan Penn through her stepfather. Her stepfather, a filmmaker, had met Vaughan when he was searching for music for a film. Vaughan had already carved out an admirable career for herself as a music writer before meeting Chynna. Chynna and Vaughan hit it off and quickly realized they were destined to do Christian music together. Their first album One Reason was released in September of 2009. Chynna has since said that nothing is more satisfying as a Christian than to be able to fuse her faith and love for Jesus into her music.

Chynna and Billy Baldwin have three children together. Daughter Jameson was born in 2000, son Vance was born in 2002, and second daughter Brooke was born in 2004. Though Chynna loves working, she hates leaving her kids. She has a made a rule for herself that she will never leave her kids for more than two weeks at a time. Any longer than that starts affecting her emotionally.

Her relationship with her kids gave her the inspiration for the song “One Reason” for which the album is named. The song is about keeping one’s priorities straight. She says it is so easy to let the demands of life push our relationship with God into a forgotten corner. It has been two years since One Reason came out and fans are wondering when Chynna-Vaughan next CD together is going to be released.

Meanwhile, Wilson-Phillips have reunited for the 20 year anniversary of their first hit “Hold On.” They had split in 1992 after their second album met with modest success and the group was burnt out. They reunited briefly in 2004 and came out with their third album California which featured oldies from the 60s and 70s. Then they had a brief appearance in the movie Bridesmaids which was released in May of this year. The momentum that developed from this naturally led to their comeback.

In addition, Wilson-Phillips are starring in a reality show sponsored by the TV Guide network titled The Wilson Phillips Project which will recount their comeback. The show will not premiere until later in the year after the 13^th season of Dancing with the Stars has ended.