Kirk Dewayne Franklin is an American choir director, gospel singer, dancer, songwriter, and author. He is best known for leading urban contemporary gospel choirs such as The Family, God's Property, and One Nation Crew (1NC) among many others. He has won numerous awards, including 16 Grammy Awards. Variety dubbed Franklin as a "Reigning King of Urban Gospel", and is one of the inaugural inductees into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame.
Joseph Lewis Thomas, known mononymously as Joe, is an American R&B singer, songwriter and record producer. Born and raised in Columbus, Georgia, he later relocated to Atlanta, Georgia and he signed a record deal with Polygram Records in 1992. He rose to prominence after releasing his debut album Everything the following year. He followed it with a series of successful albums under Jive Records, including All That I Am (1997), the international bestseller My Name Is Joe (2000) as well as the multi-certified albums Better Days (2001) and And Then... (2003). Several songs from these albums became hit singles on the pop and R&B record charts, including the number-one hit "Stutter", the top ten entries "All the Things ", "Don't Wanna Be a Player", and "I Wanna Know" as well as his collaborations "Faded Pictures", "Thank God I Found You" and "Still Not a Player".
Deniece Williams is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Williams has been described as "one of the great soul voices" by the BBC. She is best known for the songs "Free", "Silly", "It's Gonna Take a Miracle" and two Billboard Hot 100 No.1 singles "Let's Hear It for the Boy" and "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late". Williams has won four Grammys with twelve nominations altogether.
The Emotions are an American soul/R&B vocal group from Chicago. The group started out in gospel music but transitioned into R&B and disco music. The Emotions were named by VH1 as one of the 18 most influential girl groups of all time.
K-Ci & JoJo is an American R&B duo, consisting of brothers Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey and Joel "JoJo" Hailey. Natives of Monroe, North Carolina, they are also the lead singers of the chart-topping R&B group Jodeci with the DeGrate brothers—Donald and Mr. Dalvin.
Philip James Bailey is an American R&B, soul, gospel and funk singer, songwriter and percussionist, best known as an early member and one of the two lead singers of the band Earth, Wind & Fire. Noted for his four-octave vocal range and distinctive falsetto register, Bailey has won seven Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame as a member of Earth, Wind & Fire. Bailey was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame for his work with the band.
"Mary, Did You Know?" is a Christmas song addressing Mary, mother of Jesus, with lyrics written by Mark Lowry in 1984, and music written by Buddy Greene in 1991. It was originally recorded by Christian recording artist Michael English on his self-titled debut solo album in 1991. At the time, English and Lowry were members of the Gaither Vocal Band, and Greene was touring with them. The song reached Number 6 on CCM Magazine's Adult Contemporary Chart. Lowry would record the song several times himself, most notably with the Gaither Vocal Band on their 1998 Christmas album, Still the Greatest Story Ever Told.
Bishop Marvin Louis Sapp is an American Gospel music singer-songwriter who recorded with the group Commissioned during the 1990s before beginning a record-breaking solo career. Sapp is also the founder and former senior pastor of Lighthouse Full Life Center Church, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He recorded Perfect Peace in 1995.
"Shackles " is the debut single by American gospel singer-songwriter duo Mary Mary, released on March 7, 2000, in the United States. It is considered the group's signature song. Stan North of GospelFlava.com deemed it one of the pioneer songs of urban gospel music. The song was originally released as a promotional single for their debut album, Thankful, in 1999. They both feature the same track listing but different album covers, the second using a picture of the duo.
Cheryl Elizabeth Gamble, better known by her stage name Coko, is an American singer-songwriter best known as the lead singer of the R&B vocal trio Sisters With Voices (SWV). Aside from her R&B career, Gamble also has a solo gospel career. As a member of SWV, Coko has sold 10 million records in the US, and 25 million records worldwide, and is a four-time Grammy Award nominee.
"My Heart Is Calling" is a song recorded by the American recording artist Whitney Houston for the 1996 film The Preacher's Wife. It was released on June 10, 1997, as the third and final single by Arista Records from the accompanying soundtrack. The song was written and produced solely by Babyface. Musically, the song is an R&B ballad, with gospel music and funk influences, and the lyrics speak about meeting someone special. "My Heart Is Calling" received mainly positive reviews from music critics, who commended Houston's soulful performance. It peaked at number 77 on the United States Billboard Hot 100, and number 35 on Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Uncovered/Covered is a collaborative studio album by American singers and then-real-life couple Kenny Lattimore and Chanté Moore. It was released by LaFace Records and Verity through Sony BMG on October 10, 2006 in the United States. Formatted as a double album, the two-disc set consists of Uncovered, a disc of R&B songs, and Covered, a disc of gospel songs that were primarily produced by Fred Hammond. Uncovered/Covered received a Stellar Award nomination for Best Contemporary Group/Duo of the Year.
Kierra Valencia Sheard-Kelly is an American gospel singer, songwriter, fashion designer, actress, entrepreneur, author and creative director. She is the daughter of gospel singer Karen Clark-Sheard and granddaughter of gospel choral director Mattie Moss Clark. Sheard portrayed her mother in the hit Lifetime movie, The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel. After appearing on her mother's and aunt's albums, Sheard broke to the music scene with the release of her debut album I Owe You in 2004. Her hit single "You Don't Know" was inspired by her mother almost losing her life to a fatal blood clot.
"God in Me" is a song by contemporary gospel group Mary Mary. It was released as the second single from their fourth studio album The Sound (2008). The single features gospel singer Kierra "Kiki" Sheard and was written and produced by both Mary Mary and producer Warryn Campbell, husband of member Erica Campbell. The single is the group's first to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 since their debut single, "Shackles", charted in 2000. The song won Song of the Year at the 25th Annual Stellar Awards.
"I Look to You" is a pop-soul song performed by American recording artist Whitney Houston, from her seventh studio album of the same name. It was released as a worldwide promotional single and as the first US single from the album on July 23, 2009 on US radio following highly favorable reviews at pre-release album listening parties.
Journey to Freedom is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Michelle Williams, released on September 9, 2014, by E1 Music and Light Records. It marked her first release under the label after severing professional ties with longtime record company Columbia Records and manager Mathew Knowles in 2009. Following a hiatus from her recording career, Williams' album, a collaboration with main producer Harmony Samuels, was a fusion of both urban contemporary gospel and R&B sounds.
Christian R&B is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music consisting of Christian-based lyrics or of musicians typically known for writing such songs, with the purpose to uplift, entertain, or to give a Christian perspective on any topic. Some people may view Christian R&B as a subgenre of gospel music, or a cross-genre under both gospel and R&B.
Long Live Love is the twelfth studio album by American musician Kirk Franklin. RCA Inspiration, a division of RCA Records, alongside Fo Yo Soul Recordings released the album on May 31, 2019. It debuted at number-one on the US Top Gospel Albums chart, becoming his 13th release to top the chart, with 20,000 equivalent album units earned in its first week. With this, Franklin became the first artist to simultaneously top all five Billboard gospel charts: Top Gospel Albums, Hot Gospel Songs, Gospel Airplay, Gospel Streaming Songs and Gospel Digital Song Sales.
Rodarius Marcell Green, known professionally as Rod Wave, is an American rapper and singer. He is known for his strong voice and incorporation of hip hop and R&B, and has been recognized as a trailblazer of soul-trap.
