The Isley Brothers are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of the brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, the group has enjoyed one of the "longest, most influential, and most diverse careers in the pantheon of popular music".
Kirk Dewayne Franklin is an American gospel singer, choir director, record producer and rapper. He is best known for leading urban contemporary gospel and Christian R&B ensembles such as The Family, God's Property, and One Nation Crew (1NC). His accolades include 20 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.
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Motown Records in 1966. The first recording of the song to be released was produced by Whitfield for Gladys Knight & the Pips and released as a single in September 1967. It went to number one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and number two on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and shortly became the biggest selling Motown single up to that time.
Tenitra Michelle Williams is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame in the early 2000s as a member of R&B girl group Destiny's Child, one of the best-selling female groups of all time with over 100 million records, of which more than 60 million copies sold with the trio lineup that included Williams. During her time in the group she earned several accolades including a Grammy Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Carrie Marie Underwood is an American singer. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. Underwood's single "Inside Your Heaven" made her the first country artist to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the only solo country artist in the 2000s to have a number-one song on the Hot 100. Her debut album, Some Hearts (2005), was bolstered by the successful crossover singles "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Before He Cheats", becoming the best-selling solo female debut album in country music history. She won three Grammy Awards for the album, including Best New Artist. The next studio album, Carnival Ride (2007) had one of the biggest opening weeks of all time by a female artist and won two Grammy Awards. Her third studio album, Play On (2009), produced the single "Cowboy Casanova", which had one of the biggest single-week upward movements on the Hot 100.
Mary Mary is an American urban contemporary gospel duo composed of sisters Erica Atkins-Campbell and Trecina Atkins-Campbell. Formed in 1998, Mary Mary was launched into mainstream recognition following the release of their best-selling debut album, Thankful (2000), which contained the hit single "Shackles ". Their followup album Incredible (2002), reached number one on the Top Gospel Albums chart. Their self-titled third album, Mary Mary (2005), which contains themes the public interpreted as a channel to the group's experience,. That album also contains the worldwide hits "Heaven", "The Real Party", and "Yesterday".
The Preacher's Wife: Original Soundtrack Album is the soundtrack to the 1996 film of the same name and features songs performed and produced by American singer Whitney Houston, who also stars in the film. The soundtrack was released on November 26, 1996, by Arista Records and BMG Entertainment. With sales of 6 million copies worldwide, it is the best-selling gospel album of all time.
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.
Top Gospel Albums is a music chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States, ranking the popularity of gospel albums. As of Tuesday, January 31, 2017, it uses the same multi-metric methodology developed for the Billboard 200, which incorporates traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).
God's Property is a collaboration studio album by God's Property, as well as Kirk Franklin's fourth album. It was released on May 27, 1997. At the time of its release, urban contemporary gospel had gained massive ground in the music industry, thus sending the album to its third position peak on the Billboard 200 album chart and making it the first gospel album to top the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, where it reached number one on five nonconsecutive weeks. With sales of 3 million units, it is one of the best-selling gospel albums of all time.
Thirsty is the seventh album by Marvin Sapp and his fourth release on Verity Records. The album was commercially successful, peaking at number 28 on the U.S. Billboard 200, number 4 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and number 1 on the Top Gospel Albums chart. It was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on July 9, 2008 and has sold over 712,000 copies as of March 2010. On January 31, 2020, the album was certified Platinum by the RIAA, for 1 million units, making it Marvin Sapp's best selling album of his solo career and one of the best-selling gospel albums of all time.
Kierra Valencia "Kiki" Sheard-Kelly is an American gospel singer and evangelist. She is the daughter of gospel singer Karen Clark-Sheard and COGIC Presiding Bishop J. Drew Sheard and the granddaughter of gospel choral director Mattie Moss Clark. After appearing on her mother's and aunt's albums, Sheard debuted 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 in 2001 to a fatal blood clot. Sheard portrayed her mother in the hit Lifetime movie, The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel.
Hillary Dawn Scott-Tyrrell is an American singer and songwriter who rose to fame as the co-lead vocalist of the country music group Lady A. She is signed to Big Machine Records.
WOW Gospel 2011 is a gospel music compilation album from the award-winning WOW series. Released on February 1, 2011, the double CD album features thirty contemporary gospel hits. The album cover pays tribute to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The album debuted straight at number one on the Billboard Gospel Albums chart, and peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200 in 2011.
Finally Famous is the debut studio album by American rapper Big Sean. It was released on June 28, 2011, by GOOD Music and Def Jam Recordings. Recording sessions took place from 2010 to 2011, with Kanye West serving as the only executive producer on the album. The record serves as Big Sean's first studio release, under the whole Finally Famous series, following these mixtapes such as Finally Famous Vol. 1: The Mixtape (2007), Finally Famous Vol. 2: UKNOWBIGSEAN (2009) and Finally Famous Vol. 3: Big (2010).
Here I Am is the second live album and eighth overall album by Marvin Sapp as well as his fifth on Verity Records. The album debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 76,000 copies, making it the highest charting gospel album in history.
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.
Koryn Mattanah Hawthorne is an American contemporary Christian music and gospel singer. Hawthorne was a finalist in season 8 of NBC's singing competition The Voice, at the age of 17, as a member on Pharrell Williams's team. After placing fourth on the show, Hawthorne got signed to RCA Inspiration, a division of Sony Music dedicated to gospel music recordings. Her debut studio album, Unstoppable, was released on July 13, 2018, and earned her multiple awards nominations, including two Grammy nominations.
You Shall Live is the tenth studio album by Marvin Sapp. RCA Inspiration released the album on June 2, 2015. Sapp worked with producer, Aaron W. Lindsey, in the making of this album.
Travis Montorius Greene is an American gospel musician and the founding senior pastor of The Forward City Church.
