What Happened to Montell Jordan? Where He Is Now in 2026

Put on “This Is How We Do It” at any function in America and watch the room react — hands go up, the whole crowd shouts the hook, and for four minutes everybody is back in 1995. Montell Jordan wrote the ultimate feel-good party anthem, a number-one smash that still fills dance floors thirty years later. Then, at the height of a successful R&B career, he quietly stepped away from music entirely. So where is Montell Jordan now? He’s a pastor, a husband of three decades, and — as he’s shared candidly — a man in the middle of a very public fight with cancer. Here’s the full story.

01Profile

Full name

Montell Du'Sean Barnett Jordan

Born

December 3, 1968 (57 years old)

Birthplace

Los Angeles, California, USA

Occupation

Singer-songwriter, pastor, author

Best known for

"This Is How We Do It" (1995)

Ministry

Co-founder and lead pastor, Master Peace Church (Georgia)

Family

Married to Kristin Jordan since the mid-1990s; four children

At six-foot-eight, Montell Jordan was always hard to miss. But it’s his story off the charts — a full second act in ministry — that makes his “where are they now” one of the more genuinely surprising ones.

02The Rise: This Is How We Do It

A debut single that defined a summer

Montell Jordan signed to Def Jam in the mid-’90s — reportedly the label’s first R&B act — and came out swinging. His 1995 debut single, “This Is How We Do It,” built around a sample of Slick Rick’s “Children’s Story,” went straight to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for weeks. It was inescapable that summer, and it became one of the defining crossover R&B/hip-hop anthems of the decade.

More than a one-hit story

The narrative sometimes flattens Montell into a one-hit act, but that undersells the run. He followed up with hits like “Somethin’ 4 da Honeyz,” “I Like,” and the Def Squad–flavored “Get It On Tonite,” which was another major chart success at the turn of the millennium. He also co-wrote for other artists, including work associated with the pop and R&B world, and toured steadily. For most of the late ’90s, Montell Jordan was a reliable, radio-friendly hitmaker with a warm, easy baritone.

A signature that never faded

What separates “This Is How We Do It” from a lot of ’90s hits is its staying power. It’s a wedding-reception, cookout, and stadium staple to this day, streamed and sampled and sung by people who weren’t even born when it dropped. That kind of evergreen anthem gave Montell a foundation that outlasted his time on the charts — and, as it turned out, it would become part of his ministry too.

03Stepping Away From Music for Ministry

Here’s the twist most casual fans don’t know. Around 2010, at a point when he could have kept touring and recording indefinitely, Montell Jordan walked away from the secular music industry to devote himself to his faith. He has spoken openly about experiencing a calling during a period of prayer and fasting, and deciding to step off the road and out of the business.

• 1995"This Is How We Do It" hits number one and makes Montell a household name.
• 2000"Get It On Tonite" becomes another top hit, extending his run into the new millennium.
• 2010He leaves the secular music industry to serve in ministry, becoming a worship leader at a large Atlanta-area church.
• 2019He releases "Masterpeace," a faith-centered album, after years away from recording.
• 2020sHe and his wife Kristin co-found and lead Master Peace Church, focused on marriage and family ministry.

Montell has always framed the pivot as a gain rather than a loss. He didn’t disavow the music — he still performs “This Is How We Do It” and leans into being the guy who made it — but he reorganized his life around faith, marriage ministry, and family. He and his wife Kristin built much of their work around helping couples, drawing on their own long marriage.

04A Public Health Battle

This is where the recent chapter turns serious, and Montell has chosen to be strikingly open about it.

According to his own public disclosures and interviews with outlets including TODAY, Black Enterprise, and EBONY, Montell was diagnosed with prostate cancer in early 2024. He underwent surgery to remove his prostate in November 2024. He initially shared that he believed he was cancer-free — and then, in 2025, he revealed the harder update: the cancer had returned. Doctors, he said, found it in a lymph node, with the possibility of some undetectable disease remaining in the prostate bed.

Rather than additional surgery or chemotherapy, Montell has said he opted for proton radiation therapy, a highly targeted form of radiation. He described a demanding schedule of daily sessions spread over roughly seven and a half weeks. He has been candid about the difficulty while framing it through his faith.

“Cancer exists — it’s just not mine.” — Montell Jordan, on how he approaches his diagnosis (as reported by Black Enterprise, 2025)

He has repeatedly stressed one practical message above all: early detection. Montell has credited routine screening with catching his cancer, and he’s used his platform to urge men — particularly Black men, who face higher prostate-cancer risk — to get tested rather than wait for symptoms. It’s worth noting that everything here comes from what Montell himself has chosen to make public; the specifics of his prognosis are his to share, and this account sticks to his own words and mainstream reporting.

05What He Is Doing Now

Pastor and marriage minister

Montell’s day-to-day life centers on Master Peace Church, the ministry he leads with his wife Kristin near Atlanta, with a strong emphasis on marriage and family. Having been married since the mid-’90s, the couple has built a following around frank, faith-based relationship guidance. It’s a long way from the tour bus, and by all accounts it’s exactly where he wants to be.

The “30 for 30 for 30” tour

In 2026, Montell announced he’s taking his story back on the road — but with a mission attached. He’s launching a tour he’s dubbed “30 for 30 for 30,” tied to a neat trio of thirties: three decades of marriage, thirty years since “This Is How We Do It,” and a partnership with ZERO Prostate Cancer, an organization marking its own 30 years. He’s framed the run, sometimes billed with the phrase “This Is How We Cure It,” as a 30-city effort pairing music with cancer-awareness screenings and screenings of a documentary chronicling his journey.

“A man who’s been married for 30 years, who’s now had a song for 30 years, is now partnering with a company that’s 30 years old — 30 for 30 for 30.” — Montell Jordan, explaining the tour concept (as reported by TheGrio and Black Enterprise, 2025–2026)

Turning a hit into a purpose

There’s something fitting about a party anthem becoming a vehicle for a life-saving message. Montell has spent his second act insisting that the song that made him famous can still do work in the world — first as a ministry tool, now as a way to get men into a doctor’s office. And the news turned good: on December 26, 2025, he announced that his doctors had told him he was cancer-free, calling it “the greatest Christmas gift” he could have received (Essence, Black America Web). Heading into 2026 he speaks about the future with steady optimism, always circling back to faith and early detection.

06Summary

Montell Jordan’s arc keeps defying expectations: a chart-topping R&B star who became a pastor, and a cancer patient who turned his diagnosis into a public campaign to save lives.

For a guy whose biggest song is about celebration, Montell Jordan has faced the last couple of years with remarkable candor and calm. He’s still telling people how he does it — only now the message is about faith, family, and getting checked in time.