Their biggest hits include "Is My Living in Vain", "Praise the Lord (Hallelujah)", "I Can Do All Things Through Christ That Strengthens Me", "A Praying Spirit", "Nothing to Lose, All to Gain", "Endow Me", "Jesus Is a Love Song", "Ha-Ya (Eternal Life)", "Pure Gold", "Expect Your Miracle", and their biggest, mainstream crossover hit, "You Brought the Sunshine".
The Clark Sisters were born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, to gospel choir director and musician Dr. Mattie Moss Clark. Dr. Clark was married twice: her first marriage in 1945 to Leo H. Cullum, Sr. produced two children, Leo, Jr. and Jacqueline (Jacky). After her divorce, she met and later married Pastor Elbert Clark in 1952. This marriage produced four daughters: Denise, Elbernita (Twinkie), Dorinda, and Karen. They each began singing at an early age in the choir at their father's Church of God in Christ, and by the late 1960s they were all performing together in church services, usually singing songs written and arranged by their mother.[6] Shortly after the Clarks' divorce in 1973, Dr. Clark formally created "the Clark Sisters" and the sisters recorded their first album, Jesus Has a Lot to Give, on their uncle (their mother's younger brother) Bill Moss' local label Billesse Records.[7][8] The first television appearance of the Clark Sisters was on TV Gospel Time.[9]
The following year, Dr. Mattie Moss Clark Presents the Clark Sisters was released and people around Detroit began to take notice of the group. The Clark Sisters signed to Sound of Gospel Records in 1974. Under this association, the group released albums such as Unworthy, Count It All Joy, and He Gave Me Nothing to Lose, which hit the top 20 of the Billboard Spiritual LPs chart.[10][11] By this point, Dr. Clark had turned over control of the group to Twinkie, who continued to write, arrange, conduct, and produce all of the Clark Sisters' recordings. Their popularity soared with the release of the live recording Is My Living in Vain, in 1980.[12] Their debut live recording was first ranked on the 1981 Billboard Spiritual Albums year-end chart at number 21, before topping the year-end Spiritual Albums chart of 1982.[13][14] Opening with the bluesy title track, each sister vocally declares that their dedication to Christ is not a useless effort. The innovative "Ha-Ya (Eternal Life)" was funky enough to find its way into a Tonex-produced track over two decades later. Karen Clark's lead on "Speak Lord" expresses deep faith while the call to worship is raised on "Now Is the Time". Another hit from this release, "Expect Your Miracle", is still a staple in African American churches across the country.[15]
Mainstream success (1981-1984)
Their next release, You Brought the Sunshine (1981), became successful due to its title track. Reminiscent of Stevie Wonder's "Master Blaster (Jammin')", the song became a hit in churches and on dance floors across the country, including New York's Studio 54.[16][17] "You Brought the Sunshine (Into My Life)" was picked up from its original independent gospel record label Sound of Gospel and distributed by both Westbound Records and Elektra Records. In 1983, the song peaked at number 16 on BillboardBlack Singles, number 27 on Dance Club Songs and in 2020 – the Live: One Last Time (2007) recording – hit number 11 on the Hot Gospel Songs chart.[18] The album was also a commercial success, peaking at number nine on the US Top Gospel Albums chart and also appeared on both the 1983 and 1984 year-end charts at number two and 25 respectively.[19][20] Furthermore, Billboard ranked The Clark Sisters as the number-four Top Gospel Albums Artist of 1982 and number-one Top Gospel Albums Artist of 1983.[21][22]
The sisters delivered another album in 1982, Sincerely, which included "Name It, Claim It" and the politically charged "World". Though its success was overshadowed by You Brought the Sunshine, the sisters received their first Grammy Award nomination for Best Soul Gospel Performance by a Duo or Group for the album at the 26th Annual Grammy Awards.[15][1] Shortly after winning the Grammy nomination, the Clark Sisters won the NAACP Image Award for best gospel group for 1983.[23] After receiving a second Grammy nomination in the Best Soul Gospel Performance by a Duo or Group category for the song, "He'll Turn Your Scars into Stars" – later included on the album Heart & Soul (1986) –[24] the sisters were invited to perform live on the following 27th Annual Grammy Awards in 1985, alongside their mother, where they performed "Hallelujah" as part of a medley with the year's fellow gospel nominees.
Denise's departure and subsequent projects (1986-1994)
In 1986, after a four-year gap between releases, the sisters Jacky, Twinkie, Dorinda, and Karen (sister Denise left the group earlier that year) continued to release music, signing with Rejoice Records, a division of Word. This new deal yielded the Grammy-nominated Heart & Soul, featuring the mainstream single "Time Out". This project made a top-five debut on Billboard's Gospel Charts and garnered the group a Dove Award. It featured the original versions of "Jesus Is a Love Song", "There Is a Balm in Gilead", and "Pray for the USA", all of which have been re-recorded several times. Although not pictured, Denise had contributed to the album before her departure but was later removed from the album. The music took on a more contemporary sound with programmed drums and synthesizers. Also included on this album were "Smile, God Loves You", "I Am Blessed", and the funky "He'll Turn Your Scars into Stars".[15]
In 1988, The Clark Sisters released their Billboard chart-topping and critically acclaimed album Conqueror. It featured a bolder, more intense sound, with synthesizers, drum machines, and more funk-oriented beats. Conqueror quickly became a fan favorite with hits like "The Darkest Hour Is Just Before the Day", "Take Me Higher", "For the Love of the People", "Computers Rule the World", and the original studio version of "Jesus Forevermore".[15]
In 1989, The Clark Sisters released their live album, Bringing It Back Home, recorded in their home town of Detroit. It was the last recording from The Clark Sisters on Word Records' Rejoice imprint and the last group album with Twinkie just before the launch of her solo career. The album included both previous hits and new material. It also featured guest appearances from Rance Allen and backing choir vocals from the Michigan State Choir under the direction of their mother, Dr. Mattie Moss Clark.[15]
In 1994, The Clark Sisters (Jacky, Dorinda, and Karen) released their last studio album of the decade, Miracle, which was the first album recorded without the songwriting and vocals of sister Twinkie. Produced by BeBe Winans and Michael J. Powell, this disc featured a commercialized version of the Clark Sisters classic "Expect Your Miracle" (now titled "Miracle") and a remake of "Jesus Is the Best Thing". Dorinda made her songwriting debut on a Clark Sisters recording with "Work to Do". The album, although it fared well in sales, did not match the success of previous albums due to the Clark Sisters not being able to tour and promote the project due to the illness of their mother, Dr. Mattie Moss Clark, who died in September 1994 from diabetes complications.[15]
Solo careers (1995-2006)
Following their last Word Records release, Twinkie resumed her calling as a minister and her solo career. She had previously released two solo albums under the Sound of Gospel Record label: 1979's Praise Belongs to God and 1981's Ye Shall Receive Power. In 1992 she recorded her independent solo album Comin' Home. She re-appeared in 1996 with a pair of albums to her credit: the solo studio release The Masterpiece for Ben Tankard's Tribute Records label and the live project Twinkie Clark-Terrell Presents the Florida A&M University Gospel Choir. She later released the following albums: Twinkie Clark & Friends: Live in Charlotte in 2002, Home Once Again: Live in Detroit in 2004, With Humility in 2011, Live & Unplugged in 2015, and with her nephew Larry Clark (her sister Denise's oldest son) The Generations in 2020.
Dorinda released her self-titled debut solo album, Dorinda Clark-Cole in 2002, earning her two Stellar Awards, and a Soul Train Lady of Soul award. She has since released four more solo albums: Live in Houston and Take It Back, each of which have earned her the award for Female Vocalist of the Year at the Stellar Awards; I Survived in 2011, and in 2015, she released her fifth solo album, Living It, which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Gospel Album.
Jacky released her first solo project, Expectancy, in 2005, which features The Clark Sisters on the track "Blessing Me". In 2014, she released an urban-inspired single, "My Season", followed by singles "Cover Me" and "Shout". In February 2020, she released a single "Feel Good", featuring Mary J. Blige and rapper Tia P.
The Clark Sisters have all contributed in various capacities to each other's albums, whether they sang or wrote lyrics.
Live...One Last Time and Grammy recognition (2007-2009)
On July 8, 2006, The Clark Sisters (Jacky, Twinkie, Dorinda, and Karen) recorded a live album in Houston, Texas, entitled Live...One Last Time.[25] The recording was directed and produced by Donald Lawrence and was released as a CD on April 10, 2007[26] on EMI Gospel, followed by a CD/DVD Special Edition release on June 19, 2007. In support of the reunion album, the Clark Sisters embarked on a 25-city concert tour beginning October 4, 2007 in Nashville, Tennessee.[27] Though they had been thrice nominated previously for the Best Soul Gospel Performance by a Duo or Group Grammy with 1982's Sincerely, 1986's Heart & Soul, and 1988's Conqueror without a win,[28] the group was nominated for two Grammys in 2008. Live...One Last Time won the award for Best Traditional Gospel Album. Its album track "Blessed & Highly Favored" won the award for Best Gospel Performance, and as songwriter of "Blessed & Highly Favored," sister Karen Clark Sheard won the individual award for Best Gospel Song.[29][30] Additionally, at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony featuring a gospel segment with Aretha Franklin, BeBe Winans, Israel & New Breed, and Trin-i-tee 5:7, the Clark Sisters performed a snippet of their signature hit "You Brought the Sunshine" when the ceremony was broadcast on February 10 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.[31]
Following the group's resurgence in popularity, Rhino Entertainment released a greatest-hits collection including material from three albums recorded for Word Records from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s, including the Grammy-nominated Heart & Soul. The album, Encore: The Best of the Clark Sisters, was released on February 12, 2008.[32][33] In December of that year, TV One's popular hour-long music documentary series Unsung featured the Clark Sisters in its second episode. The episode, which highlighted the group's role in breaking down barriers in gospel music, featured interviews with each sister except sister Denise Clark-Bradford, who since leaving the group, had relocated to California and had begun a ministry.
In 2009, the Clark Sisters released their second Christmas album, entitled The Clark Sisters' Family Christmas, which featured special appearances by Karen's daughter Kierra Sheard, and their cousins Bill Moss, Jr. and James Moss (known as J. Moss). The album was produced by Karen's son, J. Drew Sheard, II.
On October 18, 2019, the Clark Sisters debuted their new single "Victory" on Erica Campbell's radio show Get Up Erica.[37] The single was later released on November 15, 2019, through Karew/Motown Gospel/Capitol CMG[38] On March 13, 2020, the Clark Sisters released their seventeenth album, The Return. Their first release in over a decade, it featured production from J. Drew Sheard, II, Warryn Campell, Rodney Jerkins, Jermaine Dupri, Mano Hines, and Kurt Carr, with a special feature by Snoop Dogg on the track, "His Love".
In September 2023, the Clark Sisters embarked on the Reunion Tour with Kirk Franklin, Tye Tribbett, Israel Houghton, and Tamela Mann.[39] The tour spanned 29 shows across North America and ended in Dallas, Texas on November 24, 2023.
Since early in the group's development, Twinkie has been the chief songwriter, vocal arranger, and producer for the group. The Clark Sisters as a whole are renowned for their group style, dubbed as "the Clark Sound". They incorporate high and fast melismas, acrobatic trills and riffs, and deep, soulful growls or "squalls". While they have been praised for their precise harmonies, The Clark Sisters are also known for their individual, distinctive vocal styles, and while there is no single lead vocalist in the group, each sister has led a handful of songs over the years.
"Me and my sisters got a lot of our riffs and runs from her. The way she did her moans and groans, we’d do the same way... the way she’d improvise and ad lib, hit high notes, then go all the way down and hit low notes, we listened to all of that."
—Twinkie Clark speaking about Aretha Franklin.[40]
The Clark Sisters have cited Aretha Franklin, who also grew up in Detroit, as a major musical influence. When Franklin died of pancreatic cancer in 2018, the Clark Sisters sang one of their signature songs, "Is My Living in Vain", at her funeral service.
The NAACP Image Awards are awarded annually by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The Clark Sisters have won 2 awards from 4 nominations.
Karen Valencia Clark Sheard is an American gospel singer and songwriter. Clark-Sheard is the youngest member of gospel group the Clark Sisters, which was formed in 1973. She is also the mother of contemporary gospel singer and actress Kierra "Kiki" Sheard, with whom she frequently collaborates. She has released five solo albums and 17 with the Clark Sisters.
Elbernita "Twinkie" Dionne Clark is an American Grammy Award-winning gospel singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, musician, and evangelist. Clark is best known as the chief executive writer and member of the American gospel singing group the Clark Sisters. Often called the "Mother of Contemporary Gospel Music"; Clark possesses an incredible 5 octave vocal range spanning from Bass and Baritone (B#1) notes to High Soprano and whistle register notes (G6). NPR named her one of the 50 Great Voices. Known for her use of the Hammond Organ, she is often referred to as the "Queen of the B3 Hammond Organ", and was inducted into the Hammond Hall of Fame in 2014. Clark is principally credited as the originator of "The C.O.G.I.C. Shout Sound". She is a BMI Gospel Trailblazer honoree, the recipient of multiple Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award, and continues to inspire generations of artists today. Artists such as Beyonce, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans and also her sister, Karen Clark-Sheard have cited Clark as a major influence on their singing and vocal style and have also sampled her music in various songs of their own.
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".
Dorinda Grace Clark-Cole is an American Grammy Award-winning gospel singer, songwriter, musician, talk show host, and evangelist. Clark–Cole is best known as a member of family vocal group The Clark Sisters and as a daughter of pioneering choral director Mattie Moss Clark. As a member of The Clark Sisters, Clark–Cole has won two Grammy Awards. She is known to the music world as the Rose of Gospel Music.
Mattie Moss Clark was an American gospel choir director and the mother of The Clark Sisters, a gospel vocal group. She was the longest-serving International Minister of Music for the Church of God in Christ (COGIC). "Her arrangements, perhaps influenced by her classical training, replaced the unison or two-part textures of earlier gospel music with three-part settings of the music for soprano, alto, and tenor voice ranges—a technique that remained common in gospel choir music for decades afterward."
Jacqueline Lenita Clark-Chisholm, known professionally as Jacky Clark-Chisholm, is an American Grammy Award-winning gospel singer, songwriter, and licensed practical nurse who is best known as the eldest member of the American gospel singing group The Clark Sisters.
PAJAM is an American songwriting and production team, made up of Paul Allen, J. Moss and Walter Kearney, all of Detroit, Michigan. The team works with gospel, soul and R&B artists.
Warryn Stafford Campbell, Jr. is an American record producer. He has worked with a number of gospel, hip hop and R&B artists. Campbell originally got his start as a session musician and producer under the tutelage of DJ Quik on his third album Safe + Sound.
Finally Karen is the debut solo album of gospel singer Karen Clark Sheard of the Clark Sisters, released on November 4, 1997. The live portion of the album was recorded at Bailey Cathedral in Detroit, Michigan. The album was Grammy-nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album in 1998. The song "The Will of God" launched the gospel career of her daughter Kierra "Kiki" Sheard, who won her first Stellar award from the strength of her vocal performance. Finally Karen also won the Lady of Soul award for Best Gospel Album the same year.
2nd Chance is the second studio album by American gospel musician Karen Clark Sheard. It was released on July 30, 2002 on Elektra Records. The release was much anticipated for several reasons; Sheard was only the second gospel artist signed to Elektra Records, and this was her debut for the label. It was also her first release since the success of her Grammy-nominated debut Finally Karen, and a long bout with illness had delayed any releases from her since. The album peaked at #2 on the Billboard Gospel Charts, #3 on the Billboard Contemporary Christian Charts, #27 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Charts, and #82 on the Billboard 200.
The Heavens Are Telling is the third album by gospel singer Karen Clark Sheard, released on November 4, 2003. In the US, the album peaked at number three on the Billboard Top Gospel Charts, number 11 on Billboard Top Christian Albums, number 44 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Charts, and number 188 on the Billboard 200.
Donald Lawrence is an American gospel music songwriter, record producer and artist. He is best known for his Grammy Award-nominated songs "The Blessing of Abraham" and "Encourage Yourself".
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.
He Gave Me Nothing to Lose is a 1979 album by The Clark Sisters. It was recorded in 1978 through 1979. Although only four members appear on the cover, Denise Clark Bradford still was included in the album. The album reached number 18 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart.
All In One is the fifth solo album by multiple Grammy and Stellar award-winning gospel singer Karen Clark Sheard, released on April 6, 2010. The album debuted at #3 on the U.S. Billboard Gospel Albums chart and #98 on the U.S. Billboard Top 200 albums chart and was the first album to be released on her own music label, Karew Records.
The following is the discography of Karen Clark Sheard.
Live – One Last Time is a live album released by Christian gospel quartet The Clark Sisters. The concert was recorded on July 8, 2006. The album was produced by EMI Gospel and released on April 10, 2007. The album won three Grammys.
Bill Moss Jr. is an American gospel singer-songwriter, composer, arranger, and record producer.
The discography of American gospel singer Kierra Sheard consists of thirty-five singles, seven studio albums, four compilation albums, one soundtrack album, one remix album, and three extended plays (EPs).
The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel is a 2020 American biographical film about gospel group The Clark Sisters. Directed by Christine Swanson, and co-written by Sylvia L. Jones and Camille Tucker, the film stars Christina Bell, Kierra Sheard, Sheléa Frazier, Raven Goodwin, and Angela Birchett. It premiered on Lifetime on April 11, 2020.
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