Mary Mary is a three time Grammy-award winning American gospel music duo, consisting of sisters Erica Campbell (born April 29, 1972(1972-04-29))¹ and Tina Campbell (born May 1, 1974(1974-05-01))¹. The duo are often credited along with Kirk Franklin for broadening the fan base of urban contemporary gospel in the 2000s by introducing elements of soul music, hip hop, funk and jazz. Mary Mary broke onto the music scene with their popular song "Shackles (Praise You)" which is considered one of the pioneering songs of urban contemporary gospel music ².

Their debut album Thankful (2000) was certified Platinum. The duo has released three Gold albums: Incredible (2002), and Mary Mary (2005), which all charted #1 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums.

Their current release, The Sound,again was #1 on the Top Gospel Albums; as well as #7 on the Billboard 200. It has spawned two highly successful singles: "Get Up" and "God In Me". In Spring 2009 "God In Me" began achieving crossover success (as Shackles had nine years earlier), reaching #5 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and #1 on the Hot Dance Club Play.

Personal Life

Erica is married to the producer Warryn Campbell and has a daughter named Krista Nicole Campbell and is pregnant with a son. Tina is married to Drummer, Teddy Campbell, and has 3 children: Laiah, Meela, and Tj. She also has a stepdaughter named Ciera. For the record: Warryn and Teddy are of no relation.

Musical career

A meeting with producer Warryn Campbell led to their song publishing deal with the giant EMI music conglomerate and a series of songs that landed on the soundtracks. They wrote "Dance" and performed it with Robin S. for the soundtrack to the 1998 film Dr. Dolittle; they performed "Let Go, Let God" for The Prince of Egypt and won more than two Grammy's Inspirational. Several of their songs were recorded by 702. The sisters' profile in the gospel industry was raised when their songs "Time To Change" and "Yeah" were recorded by Yolanda Adams on the Mountain High... Valley Low CD. At the same time, Mary Mary as a musical entity took shape.

Thankful (2000)

Main Article: Thankful

The duo was subsequently signed to Columbia Records/C2 Records and decided to perform under the name Mary Mary, honoring Mary, the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. They were first gospel act to record for the industry giant Columbia Records since Tramaine Hawkins in the mid-1990s. Their first single, "Shackles (Praise You)" became a crossover hit, being popular with gospel, R&B, and pop audiences. It was a Top 10 R&B and Top 40 pop hit, and peaked at #28 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It became the first gospel song in five years to crack the R&B top ten and gained wide exposure on the MTV video cable channel. The album was a huge success because it offered a younger, hipper version of gospel that audiences could relate to. Their debut album,Thankful was released in May 2000. It peaked at #1 on the Gospel album chart and at #59 of the overall Top 200 chart, and was certified Platinum for shipments of 1 million copies in the USA. It went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album. The second single "I Sings" features rapper BB Jay. Both singles were also hits in the UK and Europe, and to this day remain popular with Christian youths in the US, Latin America, and Europe. Their only UK chart hit to date is "Shackles (Praise You)", which reached No.5 in June 2000. The follow-up "I Sings" peaked at a dismal No.32. The band have never made the Top 40 since 2000, and are generally^who? thought of as one-hit wonders in the U.K^{citation needed}.

Incredible (2002)

With their second album Incredible, the duo was able to maintain their success. Soon after its July 2002 release it was #1 on the Gospel chart and was able to enter the Top 20 of the Top 200 album chart. Incredible was later on certified Gold for 500,000 copies sold in the United States. The album's singles were In The Morning and I Try. While this album charted higher than their debut, sales were lower. The duo attributed the lower sales to less aggressive promotion due to label switchovers and the advent of music piracy.

Mary Mary (2005)

After taking time off to have children, Mary Mary released their third album Mary Mary in July 2005. It became the duo's first album to enter the Top 10 on Billboard and was later on certified Gold for sales of 500,000 copies. The first single "Heaven" contained a sample from seventies soul trio the Honey Cone's "Want Ads". Heaven made history and broke chart records as it had an unprecedented 9 week run as the #1 record on Billboard's Gospel Radio chart. The second single, "The Real Party" debuted at #43 on the Gospel Radio Chart. The third single, "Yesterday", also became a hit, especially on the Adult R&B charts where it peaked at #10. On the R&B/Hip Hop chart, the song became their second biggest hit since "Shackles" in 2000, reaching the #50. The album's final single, "Believer" indicated testimonies of being a Christian. The song hit #33 on the Gospel Radio chart.

A Mary Mary Christmas (2006)

On October 10, 2006`, the duo released a Christmas album called A Mary Mary Christmas.

The Sound (2008)

On October 21, 2008, the recording group released their fourth studio album of new music entitled The Sound.³⁴ The lead single "Get Up" was released digitally via iTunes on July 15, 2008. The Sound saw Mary Mary achieve even greater success in the mainstream market; the album sold over 37,000 copies in its first week, and was their best charting album to date, debuting #7 on the Billboard 200, #2 on the US R&B chart, and topping the gospel and CCM charts. The album held the #1 position on the Billboard Gospel Album chart for over six months since its release.⁵ Warryn Campbell again returned to produce the album and saw collaborations with Kierra Sheard, David Banner, Marvin Winans, Daryl Coley, Andrae Crouch, Rance Allen, Dorinda Clark Cole, Joe Ligon, Walter Hawkins, Tramaine Hawkins, and Karen Clark Sheard. The Sound won Mary Mary 4 more Stellar Awards on January 16, 2010.

The duo was nominated twice at the 52nd Grammy Awards in the Best Gospel Song category for "Every Prayer" with Israel Houghton and for God in Me. They won the award for the latter song. After the awards, they were invited to participate in the remake of We Are The World to benefit Haiti after the earthquake.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Solo

As a featured guest

Collaboration

Videography

Music videos

• "Shackles (Praise You)"
• "I Sings" (featuring BB Jay)
• "Thank You" (featuring Kirk Franklin) from Kingdom Come
• "In The Morning"
• "Heaven"
• "Yesterday"
• "Love Him Like I Do" (Deitrick Haddon featuring Mary Mary & Ruben Studdard)
• "Get Up"
• "I Worship You"
• "God In Me"

T.V. and film appearances

• Oprah Winfrey Show
• The Parkers
• The Fighting Temptations
• The One to One Show in London, UK
• Sunday Best (Season 1) (Judges)
• Sunday Best (Season 2) (Judges)
• Salute to the Queen of Soul: An Evening of Stars
• Living It Up with Patti LaBelle
• It's Showtime at the Apollo
• Tavis Smiley
• CBS's 8th Annual "A Home for the Holidays"
• Praise The Lord
• Celebration Of Gospel
• BET's Lift Every Voice
• Bobby Jones Gospel
• The Early Show
• The Tonight Show w/ Jay Leno
• In Performance at the White House – Celebrating the Music of Stevie Wonder
• 106 & Gospel
• An Evening Of Stars Tribute to Lionel Richie
• Good Morning America
• Today Show
• 106 & Park
• Soul Train
• BET Awards
• Gospel Of Music With Jeff Majors
• Tom Joyner Show
• 25th Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards
• 41st Annual NAACP Image Awards

Awards

List of awards and nominations received by Mary Mary

References

External links

• Mary-Mary.com - Official Website
• MaryMary Official Twitter
• Official Myspace