Ana Paula Machado Valadão Bessa (born May 16, 1976) is a Brazilian Christian worship leader, singer-songwriter and pastor. She is the leader of the contemporary praise band Diante do Trono, which has sold more than 15 million worship albums globally and has led worship gatherings of as many as two million people in attendance. She has led millions in worship throughout the world and believes that worship is a major instrument for the restoration of a nation.
An award-winning worship leader, Ana Paula Valadão is the leader and founder of the music ministry Diante do Trono, one of the best known and most renowned contemporary Christian music bands in Brazil and the world, with whom she has released more than 50 albums, including live recordings, studio and children's projects, the Crianças Diante do Trono, plus some solo projects. The group has sold more than 15 million records in various formats, becoming one of the record sales of records in Brazil. In a single performance, held on July 12, 2003, during the recording of the album Quero Me Apaixonar, Diante do Trono brought together over 2 million people at Campo de Marte Airport in São Paulo, being the largest audience of an Christian event in the world and the second largest audience in Brazil, second only to the Rock in Rio festival. Her band has also been a winner of the Talent Awards, by RecordTV and Promises Awards, by Rede Globo, and was nominated for a Latin Grammy Award in 2012 with the album Sol da Justiça.
Through the ministry Diante do Trono and her home church, Lagoinha Church, Valadão promotes various social, humanitarian and missionary actions, such as Projeto India, which combats human trafficking, the Missão DT, and other specific actions promoted during some of her live album recordings in Brazil and the Middle East. She is presently co-pastor of Before the Throne Church, a Lagoinha satellite church in Boca Raton, Florida, alongside her husband, Gustavo Bessa.
In 2012, she was named one of the 100 most important Brazilians of all time by a survey by broadcaster SBT in partnership with the BBC London. In 2013, she was cited by Forbes as the 89th most influential celebrity in Brazil.