2009 Grammy Winning Gospel Duo Mary Mary Announce Dates for Spring Club Tour
“Get Up,” From Mary Mary’s #1 Gospel Album, “THE SOUND,” Takes Home Best Gospel Performance Grammy.
NEW YORK, March 24 /PRNewswire/ — The platinum-selling chart-topping R&B/gospel duo Mary Mary have announced dates for a North American spring club tour beginning April 8 in Annapolis, Maryland, and ending April 29 in Sacramento (please see itinerary following).
The Mary Mary 2009 spring club tour mark the pair’s first evening’s
length live shows since the influential gospel singers took home this
year’s Best Gospel Performance Grammy for “Get Up,” one of the key
tracks on the #1 Gospel album, The Sound.
Heralded as “Praiseworthy” by People magazine, The Sound peaked at #1 on a variety of Billboard Christian and Gospel albums charts shortly after its release in October 2008.
That same week, The Sound entered the Billboard
Top 200 at #7, giving Mary Mary their highest charting — and second
Top 10 — album on that chart (2005’s Mary Mary peaked at #8 on the Top
200). Mary Mary and The Sound achieved one of the highest chart debuts on the Top 200 of any gospel album released in 2008. A bonafide crossover smash, The Sound made a “Hot Shot” debut on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart at #2.
“Get Up,” the Grammy-winning lead single from The Sound,
garnered massive crossover radio play on Urban, Urban Adult
Contemporary, Rhythmic, Gospel and Dance radio formats while charting
in a number of formats including #5 Hot Gospel Songs, #12 Hot Adult
R&B Airplay, #32 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, #4 Hot Dance Club Play,
and #6 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles. “That song embodies what the
whole album is about,” says Mary Mary’s Erica Campbell.
“It asks people, ‘Why are you waiting? Why do you care what other
people think?’ It reminds us that your beginning can be whenever you
want it to be.”
Beyond the music, Mary Mary recently started the Paint A Smile
foundation and have launched BE U, a bath, body and candle line
designed to inspire young women to celebrate their natural beauty and
inner uniqueness through four basic principles : be honest, be
beautiful, be intentional, be you. To further expand the BE U brand,
Mary Mary have inked a publishing deal with Simon & Schuster to pen
a devotional collection of inspirational stories, anecdotes and helpful
hints.
“In an era when everybody gets nipped and tucked to look like
somebody else, we’re just telling people, ‘Be you… Be intentional,
honest and the unique person God made you to be,'” says Tina. “And with
Paint A Smile, it’s all about giving back, making kids happy and making
them feel special because we want them to know how cool they are to us
and that they’re worth so much.”
The Sound is Mary Mary’s first new album since the release of A Mary Mary Christmas in October 2006 and is the duo’s first new full-length non-seasonal album since release of the RIAA gold-certified Top 10 collection Mary Mary in July 2005.
The Sound premieres 11 new Mary Mary
performances including the R&B-flavored title track “The Sound,”
“Superfriend,” “God In Me,” “Boom,” “I’m Running,” “Forgiven Me,”
“Dirt,” “Seattle,” “I Worship You,” and “It Will All Be Worth It.”
With able assistance from longtime producer and collaborator Warryn Campbell, Erica Campbell and Tina Campbell,
the real life sisters a/k/a Mary Mary, weave their love of
truth-grounded gospel music into a tuneful blend of R&B, pop, soul,
jazz, electronic music, and more. (Erica’s husband, Warryn Campbell
has produced all of Mary Mary’s albums including the RIAA
platinum-certified Thankful as well as the RIAA gold-certified
Incredible and RIAA gold-certified Mary Mary.)
As Mary Mary, Erica and Tina Campbell bring a revolutionary combination of R&B, urban , hip-hop and electronica to the world of contemporary gospel music.
Growing up in Inglewood, California, Erica and
Tina first sang publicly in the local church choir and received their
first break in 1998 with a song on the “Prince of Egypt” soundtrack.
In 2000, Mary Mary’s platinum debut album, Thankful–featuring
the hit “Shackles (Praise You)”–earned numerous awards including a
Grammy for Best Contemporary Gospel Album and three Dove Awards, six
Stellar Awards, a Lady of Soul Award, a Soul Train Award. Incredible,
their second album, became the nation’s #1 Top Christian Album in 2002
and featured the Dove Award-winning hits “In The Morning” and “Thank
You,” featuring Kirk Franklin.
While Erica and Tina took a break after recording their second album
to start–and spend time with–their respective families, the
platinum-selling duo found the time to bring their exuberant gospel
soul sounds down new avenues, including an appearance in the 2003
musical comedy, “The Fighting Temptations,” and concert performances
around the world.
In November 2005, Mary Mary took home the coveted
American Music Awards trophy in the Contemporary Inspirational Music
category, adding to a growing collection of critical and popular kudos
that, in 2009 includes two Grammys as well as five Dove Awards, two
Lady of Soul Awards, an NAACP Image Award, and multiple Stellar Awards.
The Grammy-winning R&B/gospel duo Mary Mary crossed over into
Top 10 pop territory when the group’s self-titled new album, released
in July 2005, debuted at #8 on the Billboard Top 200
best-selling album chart, the highest Top 200 chart position in the
group’s career. (Mary Mary’s previous albums–2000’s Thankful and
2002’s Incredible–peaked at #59 and #20, respectively.)
When Mary Mary subsequently debuted at #1 on the Billboard Gospel
album sales chart, it became the best-selling Gospel debut of 2005.
“Heaven,” the first single from Mary Mary, made chart history during
its unprecedented 9 week run as the #1 record on Billboard’s Gospel
Radio chart. “Heaven” was also a #1 R&R Gospel Radio Single which
hit the #3 slot on the Billboard Bubbling Under – Hot R&B Singles
chart.
Mary Mary 2009 Spring Concert Itinerary
4/8: Annapolis,MD Rams Head On Stage 4/9: New York City Sound of Brazil "S.O.B.'s" 4/13: Alexandria, VA Birchmere Music Hall 4/14: Foxboro, MA Showcase Live 4/17: New Orleans, LA House of Blues 4/18: Lake Charles, LA Lake Charles Civic Center 4/24: Las Vegas, NV House of Blues 4/25: Phoenix, AZ Celebrity Theatre 4/26: Los Angeles, LA Sunset Strip House of Blues 4/27: Oakland, CA Yoshi's 4/28: Sacramento, CA Crest Theater 4/29: Anaheim, CA House of Blues
