How Natasha Owens used music to find God after father's tragic death

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Natasha Owens on new album 'We Will Rise'

Fox411: How Natasha Owens overcame tragedy and inspires fans with faith-based music

NEW YORK – Natasha Owens' life changed in 60 seconds.

The singer's father was cleaning his gun in 2010 when he missed a safety step and accidentally shot himself in the chest and died one minute later. The gun he had been using belonged to his brother who was murdered seven years prior.

Owens went into complete shock upon hearing the news of her father's death.

"It was like I had punched the pause button to my life and I couldn't quite get going again," Owens told Fox News. "I went through shock and after the shock wore off, I downspiraled into a deep depression where I couldn't get out of beds most days."

The Texas native said she was "so angry at God" and questioned why He had taken her father's life. So when her pastor asked her to be the church's music minister, she practically scoffed at the offer.

"I was already going down a suicidal road," she recalled. "It took years to dig myself out of the hole."

Finally, on one hot Texas summer day, Owens was looking at her two sons and thought to herself, "You can't die for looking back at what you lost, you have to live for what you have left.

"I remember smiling for the first time that day," she told us. "I promised God that day that I would go wherever He wanted me to go and do whatever He needed me to do."

It was then that Owens decided to pursue a career in music. She released her first album "I Made it Through" in 2013.

"The true mission of life, I feel, the purpose, or the reason why we're made, is to help people along the way," she said of her decision to make music.

She was inspired to release her second album, "We Will Rise" in 2017," after realizing "when you make it through, that's survival. But when you rise above, it then you thrive."

The 41-year-old hopes her music will help others who are going through times of grief.

"Christianity and God [are] at the core and center of not only my life, but my family's life," she said. "I'm a Christian. I put that in every one of my songs. It's our job to love, it's not our job as Christians to judge."

Faith & Fame is a regular column exploring how a strong belief system helps some performers navigate the pitfalls of the entertainment industry.