With a fresh album coming this fall, and dance singles lighting up the charts, the undisputed "Queen of House Music" Crystal Waters isn’t just celebrating her latest musical milestone—she’s opening up about the journey that got her here. 
   It has been over 25 years since the iconic singer/songwriter dropped her debut album Surprise (1991), featuring the global hit "Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless)," and her second album, Storyteller (1994), with "100% Pure Love," and third album, Crystal Waters (1997), which sold over 100,000 copies worldwide. 
   Since then Crystal has released several successful  collaborations with top producers and artists like Soul Central, Robin S., and David Anthony. For her 2023 single "Dance Dance Dance," Waters worked with Quantize Recordings, led by DJ Spen, and Kevin Liles’ Sparta; and added another house hit, "Baby Don't you know" in 2024 with DJ Vivona, reflecting Waters’ ability to adapt and thrive in the modern dance music scene. 
   Currently on her "You & Me" tour,  the iconic artist sat down to speak with Preferred Health Magazine to share candid advice for aspiring artists, how she keeps a positive mindset, and the secrets behind her enduring success in the music industry. Crystal also shared an exclusive about the look and feel of her new video for You & Me and the album, which promises a "modern, hard-driving house sound."
 

Preferred Health Magazine:  I was thrilled to hear about you dropping a new album in 2025. But I'm curious—After 25 years, what inspired you to create an album?” 
Crystal Waters: "Well, I wanted to do one more album, put my heart into it. I mean, I had some friends that were like, 'Come on, let's do an album.'
I got a little nudging. 
   I said, well, I want to do it. I want it to be cohesive. I wanted a certain sound, and once I found some people that I could actually work with and get what I wanted out of it - because it's hard to find good people to work with. Everybody these days are, you know, out for themselves. So I finally got a good groove and I'm really feeling good about the album.

I wanted it to flow - like if you played the album, you didn't have to pick up the needle." 

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PHM: What what would you say is the sound of this album?
CW: The sound of the album - you got the classic house sounds, but it's a modern, hard-driving, edgy house sound.

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PHM: If there were three words for the message of this album, what would they be? 
CW: Good – Feeling- Energy is the message. 
You know, I'm trying to still give that message of positivity and togetherness. 

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PHM: You've been a presence in the music industry for such a long time. Fans and the industry itself can be so unpredictable over the years. Yet, even today, "Gypsy Woman" is sampled and played on the radio, and it feels like you've consistently woven your way through time. How do you do it?
CW:  First of all, I think there's somebody's watching over me. But I think I got into this business at a time when it was good for artists and it was new music at the time; I think a lot of people are just discovering it. 
  I haven't been able to answer this question honestly, but there's something that resonates in these songs with people.

I think it uplifts people in some way and it makes them feel good somehow. Everybody I've talked to has a great memory of it [Gypsy Woman]. When I talk to them, I know it gives them good memories. 

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PHM: With your father, Junior Waters, being a jazz musician, and your Aunt Ethel Waters breaking barriers as the first Black vocalist in Hollywood, do you feel like singing was something you were always destined for?
CW: I did not think singing was what I was destined for at all. I was very shy. I stayed in the bedroom. I kind of had the headphones on all the time. I love music, though. And I used to go on tour with my father in the summer and I would always listen to music. You know, it wasn't until I when I was working at a government job where I said, 'Oh, maybe there's something else I should be doing.' So no, I had no idea. 

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PHM: When did you first discover your talents?
CW: Well, I'll tell you the whole story. I majored in computer science at Howard University in the 1990s. Back then,

I worked in a computer room with a massive, early-model computer, issuing warrants and calculating good time for the parole board to determine when people could be released from jail. They circulated a paper showing salary grades—G1, G2, and so on—for each year of service. Even after 12 years, I realized I wouldn’t make much money. My mom suggested I visit a psychic. So that weekend I went with a friend to a psychic fair. On the way, I lost my voice. The psychic told me I wasn’t doing something with my voice, and I brushed it off, thinking, “Yeah, right!” 
   When I got back to work, my friend, knowing my love for music, mentioned her cousin who owned a studio and was looking for background singers. She said, “I’ll go if you go.” We went, and I landed the background singing job. I earned $600, which felt like a million dollars to me back then. And a light went off. I was like, 'This is it.' I knew I could write songs. But being in that studio, I just knew that was it for me.

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PHM: Your music is widely celebrated for being uplifting and empowering. 
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
CW: I'll listen to the music. And usually you know, I'll get some words here and there and I just get inspired that way.

I just let it flow through me. Sometimes I'll write some lyrics down if I hear something in my head, I'll write it down and go back and use those. But basically I get inspired from the music. There'll be something that gives me a hint of what the song is about. And then I go from there.