Christine Marie Conway was born on April 5, 1979 in Stratford, New Jersey. From the moment she opened her eyes, she was very dramatic and expressive. Chrissy had an older brother Brian and a younger sister, Jen. The three of them were very involved in sports, especially soccer, but Chrissy also took dance and singing lessons. She sang in all competitions, and once said there wasn’t a single mall in Jersey in which she hadn’t sang.
Things went well for Chrissy. Her parents supported her during all her tryouts and rehearsals. She did well in school, made many friends and was in her first school play in fourth grade. It all seemed picture-perfect, but Chrissy’s world came to a screeching halt when she was 13.
One night, Chrissy overheard her parents fighting, but she went to sleep not thinking it was a big deal. The next morning, her sister Jen, told her the news: “Chrissy, Mom’s cheating on Dad-they’re getting a divorce”.
Her mother moved out of the house shortly after and moved in with her boyfriend. Her father, not wanting to have to do anything with his ex-wife-including his children-left and moved in with a woman he had just met. Every now and then, he would come check up on his kids, but for the most part, they were on their own: 14 year old Brian, 13 year old Chrissy and 11 year old Jen.
Chrissy and Jen were heartbroken over their parent’s divorce, but Brian used their absence as an excuse to do the forbidden. Chrissy recalls having parties every day. She also says there was alcohol, drugs and sex.
One day, Chrissy’s mother picked her up from singing class, and Chrissy told her mother all that was happening. She wanted to move in with her mother, even if it meant living with the man who had destroyed her family. In tears of joy, her mother said okay.
Chrissy continued to practice her music, but she made many wrong decisions in high school. She became involved with the wrong crowd and did all sorts of things she never would have otherwise. But during this time, Chrissy was given an amazing opportunity. Through her music teacher, she heard of an audition for an all-female R&B group. Chrissy tried out and she made it. The other two members were Sharon Flanagan and Alecia Moore. Together, they became “Choice.”
The three girls worked hard to make their first album. LaFace Records spent over $1 million on this project. At a label Christmas party, the girls were asked to perform, and unfortunately, they did very poorly. Their manager said that if they weren’t going to sound great, they should at least look great. Consequently, the girls of Choice began a self-destructive workout routine which gave Chrissy grey hair as a teenager. Even after doing workouts for over 8 hours a day, the label decided that they no longer wanted Chrissy and Sharon. They decided to take Alecia as a solo artist. She is now known as Pink.
Meanwhile, in 1997, a friend of Chrissy invited her to a Harvest Crusade. Thinking En Vogue would be there, she went, but she came back a changed person. Chrissy had accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior that night.
Still crushed over what happened with Choice, Chrissy decided she needed to pursue her own music. She had an attorney and was about to make a deal with a record label so that she could become the next Britney Spears. Chrissy even purchased a few revealing outfits. However, just a few days before she was to sign a deal, she felt God telling her to rethink this idea. So, she got on her knees and prayed to God and asked Him for a sign telling her whether or not this record deal was the right thing.
The very next day, Chrissy checked her answering machine. There was a message from Kristin Swinford asking her if she was interested in joining a Christian pop group. Chrissy called back and said yes. She packed all her belongings and headed to Nashville where she met Kristin and Alisa Girard. The three girls felt they were united by God and knew that they could accomplish something amazing.
ZOEgirl quickly became the fastest selling debut artist in Sparrow Records’ history. Chrissy wrote a worship song with Joe Priolo, “With All of My Heart” which became a hit single on ZOEgirl’s 2001 album, “LIFE”. That same year, Chrissy heard of a young girl back in her hometown who was killed by a drunk driver when she was only 17. Chrissy and her mom wrote the song “Forever 17″ in response to this.
In 2002, a friend introduced Chrissy to James Katina of the Christian R&B, pop group, The Katinas. It did not take very long for the two to realize they were in love and wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. Chrissy helped James write songs for his band, while he helped Chrissy write the words to one of ZOEgirl’s biggest hits ever -”You Get Me”. They were married in May 2004. Chrissy also became a stepmother of two boys, Jackson and Dyllan.
In January 2006, Chrissy and James announced they were having their first baby. In August, Chrissy gave birth to Haylee Raine Katina. Shortly after, Alisa announced her desire to produce a solo CD, and ZOEgirl parted ways in December. Kristin and Chrissy discussed the possibility of creating music together, but with both of their babies, it would be a great challenge.
Chrissy also had a desire to go solo. In fact, she recorded 12 tracks and thought of an album name, “Beautiful Redemption” but she felt that she needed to work with other people. So, she put up an online ad asking women between 20 and 30 to contact her if they were interested in forming a new group. She joined forces with Kelli Trontell in December 2007 and began planning their first album under the name ColmanBlue.
On the quest for a new member, Chrissy received a phone call from fellow ZOE, Kristin Schweain. Kristin released a solo jazz album in June, but she eventually joined ColmanBlue. Though a few singles were released online via MySpace, there was no album or EP released, nor any online updates, hinting that that ColamBlue has also disbanded.
During her short stint in ColmanBlue, Chrissy gave birth to her second daughter through a Caesarean section on February 10, 2009. She named her Rylie Siai Katina. She now spends all her time raising her children and running her own photography business, called Magnify U. She is also taking a hiatus from producing music.
