All for One, One for All
By Lisa Collins, senior music editor, GospelMusicChannel.com
When Donnie McClurkin recorded the tracks to his latest CD, We All Are One (Live In Detroit) due in stores March 31, he was going up against his stiffest competition -- a process that has gotten more and more tedious over the years.
“When you record CDs, you’re competing against yourself,” says the New York native, who began his career in gospel with The New York Restoration Choir. “People are always looking for the next “We Fall Down,” “Stand” or “Speak To My Heart.” Those songs came holistically. With each project I had to sit back and see which song God was going to use, as people started to respond to the ministerial side of the songs. That’s how I knew which song would become classic or have longevity.”
He’s seeing that now with “Wait On The Lord,” featuring Karen Clark Sheard.
“People are telling me how they were blessed with that song, and the message is very strong. It gives confidence to people who are struggling with this economy to know that God’s got everything in control.”
It is a fact to which McClurkin, who turns 50 this year, is a living and breathing testimony.
For the last six years a cyst on his right vocal chord has, at times, cut short his ability to hit high notes and -- according to doctors --could signal the end to a more than two-decade long career that has garnered two Grammy awards, ten Stellar Awards, two Soul Train Awards, a Dove Award, cameo roles in two movies (“The Gospel” and “The Fighting Temptations”) and four hit CDs.
“The thing I’ve learned about my voice is that it comes in when it’s supposed to and then when I want it to come in, it says no, I’m going to take a rest. It’s only the power of God that has me singing with the diagnosis that the doctor has given. Sometimes I don’t have any limit to my range and that’s confounding to me and the doctor.”
What it hasn’t hurt is his growing popularity, including the more than five million listeners that tune in from across the nation to his syndicated radio show.
“I never knew [the radio show] was going to have so much power and that kind of impact. I’m able to be me and laugh and joke and it throws people off because they’re used to the tongue-talking, hand-laying, ‘he’s-so-anointed’ artist.”
Ironically, for the last five years, music has been taking a back seat to ministry for McClurkin, who serves as pastor of the Freeport, New York-based Perfecting Church.
“I’ve become more entrenched in my pastoral ministry, traveling and speaking as opposed to traveling and singing, and it’s taking a toll,” said McClurkin. “I get so comfortable in the preaching that when it comes time to go back to the singing side, it’s taking longer to get back now. I’d rather be able to slip back into the background and only come out when I feel like it, rather than having to pump out music according to contractual agreements.”
But not so much with this CD which also features Mary Mary, CeCe Winans and Yolanda Adams (on "When You Love"); Sherrie McGhee, Andrea Mellini and Nancy Jackson ("All We Ask”) and background vocalist Duawne Starling ("Home Someday").
“We’re setting up a 40-city tour with this new CD, and I feel like doing it because I think the CD was birthed out of my heart and it’s in line with what I believe and what I’m teaching now (let’s all be one),” McClurkin explains. “It’s a less judgmental Donnie McClurkin. It’s a more embracing Donnie McClurkin. I want it to portray the love of God more, so this tour will give me a platform to be able to do so.”
In the meantime, McClurkin teamed with Kirk Franklin and Yolanda Adams for Hopeville: The Original Gospel Sensation. The musical story of the determination, faith and friendship of three friends from the fictional town of Hopeville, The musical event premiers on Gospel Music Channel on Sunday, March 8. One of the highest grossing concert tours in gospel music history, Hopeville features such hits as "I'm Gonna Be Ready," "We Fall Down" and "Brighter Day” and is scheduled for several encore airings.
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About the Writer
Lisa Collins, a Los Angeles native and resident, is a syndicated columnist, writer, publisher and former Billboard Magazine columnist. Her career in gospel began in 1988 with her creation of “Inside Gospel,” a daily/weekly syndicated radio series that provided news, profiles and product updates relative to the gospel music community. For the next eight years, she would also serve as executive producer of the show that was broadcast in more than 100 markets nationwide. Collins has also served as a segment producer for BET and authored well over 300 articles on a variety of issues for a number of national publications from Essence to Upscale. Her background in the field of entertainment reporting is extensive, featuring cover stories and interviews with the likes of Richard Pryor, Michael Jackson and Prince.
