Virtue (musical group)

Virtue
Origin	New Orleans, Louisiana United States
Genres	Urban Gospel, Contemporary Christian, Inspirational/Worship
Years active	1997 – Present
Labels	Verity Records (1997–2005) Darkchild Gospel (2006–2007) Mixed Bag Entertainment (2014 – Present)
Members	Ebony Holland Heather Martin Karima Kibble
Past members	Negelle Sumter (1995-2001) Shavonne Sampson (1995–1999)

Virtue is an American gospel music group. The group currently consists of Ebony Holland, Karima Kibble and Heather Martin.

History

Virtue was formed in 1994 by Karima Trotter (Kibble), Ebony Trotter (Holland), Negelle Sumter, and Shavonne Sampson. All four women attended the historically Black Seventh-day Adventist institution, Oakwood University (then Oakwood College).

Their self-titled debut album, Virtue, was released on April 29, 1997 by Verity Records. The album peaked at number 18 on Billboard's Christian Albums, and number 6 on Billboard's Top Gospel Albums.

Virtue released several other albums throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, including Get Ready (1999), Virtuosity (2001), Free (2003), and Testimony (2006).

After Testimony, no new content was released by the group for over 9 years. On the 26th of February 2016, the group released the album Fearless, their 7th studio album, which charted at number 3 on Billboard's Top Gospel Albums, their highest charting album to date.

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Chart positions
		US Gospel [1]	US Christ. [2]	US Heat. [3]
Virtue	Released: April 29, 1997 Label: Jive (#CHIP 188), Verity (#43020) [4]	6	18	—
Get Ready	Released: May 18, 1999 Label: Verity (#43122) [5]	4	10	22
Virtuosity	Released: September 11, 2001 Label: Verity (#43170) [6]	4	23	33
Free	Released: August 19, 2003 Label: Verity (#53729) [7]	10	34	—
Testimony	Released: June 20, 2006 Label: Darkchild Gospel, Integrity Gospel (#682184) [8]	23	—	—
Fearless	Released: February 26, 2016 Label: eOne, Virtue Girls (#115) [9]	3	—	—

Re-issued albums

Title	Album details	Chart positions
		US Gospel [1]	US Christ. [2]	US Heat. [3]
Testimony Reloaded	Released: February 3, 2015 Label: Mixed Bag Entertainment (#MGB-CD-14) [10]	21	—	—

Compilation albums

Title	Album details	Chart positions
		US Gospel [1]	US Christ. [2]	US Heat. [3]
Nothing But the Hits	Released: July 27, 2004 Label: Sony Music (#771634), Verity (#82876599982) [11]	—	—	—

Singles

As a lead artist

Title	Year	Peak chart positions		Album
		US Gospel [12]	US Gospel Airplay [13]
"Greatest Part Of Me"	1997	—	—	Virtue
"Let the Redeemed"		—	—
"I Must Tell Jesus"		—	—
"My Heart's With You"	1999	—	—	Get Ready
"Get Ready"		—	—
"Love Me Like You Do"		—	—
"Angels Watching Over Me"		—	—
"Put Your War Clothes On"		—	—
"He's Been Good"	2001	—	—	Virtuosity
"Till You Believe"		—	—
"Gotta Worship"		—	—
"Down on My Knees"		—	—
"Healin'"	2003	—	—	Free
"Lord. I Lift My Hands"		—	—
"You Just Be You"		—	—
"Follow Me"	2006	4	4	Testimony
"You Are"	2014	—	17	Testimony Reloaded and Fearless
"Walk it Out"	2015	—	—	Fearless
"Miracle"	2016	—	23
"—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart.

Other appearances

Virtue performed on the Sisters in the Spirit tour with Shirley Caesar, Yolanda Adams and Mary Mary. ^[14] They also performed on the Evolution II Tour 2003 with Byron Cage, Percy Bady Tonex, Lisa McClendon, and Corey Red & Precise. ^[15]

They appeared on the album Bridges: Songs of Unity and Purpose in a duet with Clay Crosse and sang background for Darwin Hobbs on the song So Amazing from his album Vertical.

List of album appearances, showing year released and album name

Title (Artist)	Year	Album
"The First Noel" [16] (Virtue)	1998	The Real Meaning of Christmas, Vol. 2
"Together" [17] (Clay Crosse & Virtue)	1999	Bridges - Songs of Unity and Purpose
"Can You Hear the Angels?" [18] (Virtue)		The Real Meaning of Christmas, Vol. 3
"So Amazing" [19] (Darwin Hobbs featuring Virtue) [20]	2000	Vertical
"So Amazing" [21] (Oakwood University USM Compilation featuring Virtue)	2008	The Experience

Music videos

• "Greatest Part of Me"
• "Follow Me"

Award history

Year	Award-giving body	Award Category	Song /Album Title
2003	Dove Awards	Urban Album of the Year	Free
2006	Grammy Awards	Nominated for Gospel Album of the Year	Testimony

References

1. Studio albums
   • For Virtue: "POPULAR UPRISINGS". Billboard . Vol. 111, no. 17. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. April 24, 1999. p. 17. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved September 3, 2021.
   • For Get Ready: "Top Gospel Albums Chart". Billboard . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. June 12, 1999. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2021– via Billboard.com.
   • For Virtuosity: "Top Gospel Albums Chart". Billboard . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 27, 2001. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2021– via Billboard.com.
   • For Free: "Top Gospel Albums Chart". Billboard . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 6, 2003. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2021– via Billboard.com.
   • For Testimony: "Top Gospel Albums Chart". Billboard . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. July 15, 2006. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2021– via Billboard.com.
   • For Fearless: "Top Gospel Albums Chart". Billboard . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. March 19, 2016. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2021– via Billboard.com.
   Re-issued albums
   • For Testimony Reloaded: "Top Gospel Albums Chart". Billboard . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. May 9, 2015. Archived from the original on October 4, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2021– via Billboard.com.
2. "Virtue | Billboard Top Christian Albums". Billboard . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 27, 2001. Archived from the original on March 27, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2021– via Billboard.com.
3. • For Get Ready: "Billboard's Heatseekers Albums Chart". Billboard . Vol. 111, no. 24. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. June 12, 1999. p. 16. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved September 3, 2021.
   • For Virtuosity: "Billboard Heatseekers". Billboard . Vol. 113, no. 43. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 27, 2001. p. 85. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved September 3, 2021.
4. "Virtue - Virtue | Releases | Allmusic". Allmusic . Netaktion LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
5. "Get Ready - Virtue | Releases | Allmusic". Allmusic . Netaktion LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
6. "Virtuosity! - Virtue | Releases | Allmusic". Allmusic . Netaktion LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
7. "Free - Virtue | Releases | Allmusic". Allmusic . Netaktion LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
8. "Testimony - Virtue | Releases | Allmusic". Allmusic . Netaktion LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
9. "Fearless - Virtue | Releases | Allmusic". Allmusic . Netaktion LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
10. "Testimony Reloaded - Virtue | Releases | Allmusic". Allmusic . Netaktion LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
11. "Nothing But the Hits - Virtue | Releases | Allmusic". Allmusic . Netaktion LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
12. • For "Follow Me": "Hot Gospel Songs". Billboard . December 16, 2006. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2021– via Billboard.com.
13. • For "Follow Me": "Gospel Airplay". Billboard . December 9, 2006. Retrieved September 6, 2021– via Billboard.com.
    • For "You Are": "Gospel Airplay". Billboard . April 18, 2015. Retrieved September 6, 2021– via Billboard.com.
    • For "Miracle": "Gospel Airplay". Billboard . August 13, 2016. Retrieved September 6, 2021– via Billboard.com.
14. Collins, Lisa (July 28, 2001). "Artists & Music: In The Spirit". Billboard . Vol. 113, no. 30. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 30. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved September 6, 2021.
15. ""Prince of Praise" Headlines Evolution II Tour 2003". Gospelwire.com. Retrieved January 12, 2007.
16. "The Real Meaning of Christmas, Vol. 2 by Various Artists on Apple Music". Apple Music . September 29, 1998. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
17. "Bridges - Songs of Unity and Purpose by Various Artists on Apple Music". Apple Music . September 21, 1999. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
18. Huey, Steve. "The Real Meaning of Christmas, Vol. 3 - Various Artists". Allmusic . Retrieved November 2, 2021.
19. "Vertical by Darwin Hobbs on Apple Music". Apple Music . January 2000. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
20. "The Best of Darwin Hobbs by Darwin Hobbs on Apple Music". Apple Music . January 2007. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
21. "The Experience by Oakwood University USM Compilation on Apple Music". Apple Music . April 4, 2008. Retrieved November 2, 2021.

• Biography Interview
• Virtue at AllMusic

External links

• Cross Rhythms Artist Profile – Virtue
• Richard De La Font Agency, Inc - Artist Booking
• Virtue at IMDb