Mary Mary
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Mary Mary is an American gospel duo.
Band history
Erica and Tina Atkins grew up with seven other siblings in Inglewood , California. Her parents were gospel singers and so they sang in the church choir as children. Together they also appeared on television on the Bobby Jones Gospel Show. The two sisters later appeared on two Michael Matthews gospel stage shows, and each of them worked as a background singer for various artists in the R&B field.
A meeting with the producer Warryn Campbell then led to the merger as a duo under the name Mary Mary , an allusion to the two women named Mary in the Bible, the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene. Their first joint productions followed. With contributions to the soundtracks by Dr. Dolittle and The Prince of Egypt in 1998 attracted the attention of the Columbia label, which released their debut album Thankful in 2000 . It stood out because it wasn't a classic gospel album, but a crossover album with other styles of black music such as R&B, hip-hop and soul. With the first single Shackles (Praise You) they immediately had their breakthrough. It was also a big hit in Europe and was among the top 5 in Great Britain, among others. In the US, it was a number one gospel hit and a top 10 hit on the R&B charts.
The album Thankful only came to number 59 in the US album charts, but sold over a million times by the end of 2001 and went platinum for it . At the 2001 Grammy Awards , her debut was recognized as Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album .
Internationally, the album was their only success, but in their home country they were able to firmly establish themselves in the gospel sector with the albums Incredible (2002) and Mary Mary (2005). Both albums reached number 1 in the gospel and the top 10 in the R&B album charts and sold over 500,000 copies each and were awarded gold. With In the Morning , Dance Dance Dance , Heaven and Yesterday they had four more number one gospel hits during this period. In addition, the two sisters founded families of their own: Erica had married her producer Warryn Campbell and Tina had married a drummer who happened to be also called Campbell, and both had given birth to offspring.
Another very successful album, The Sound, followed in 2008 . With number 7, it reached their best position in the official US album charts to date. In the gospel album charts it was number 1 for over half a year. In the category Best R&B Gospel Album it was one of three Grammy nominations in 2009 for Mary Mary . One of them, with the song Get Up as the best gospel performance of the year, led to her second Grammy win. With God in Me together with the gospel singer KiKi Sheard they also had their second hit on the Billboard Hot 100 .
After the album Go Get It , which was released in 2012, both decided to pursue solo careers. In 2014 Erica Campbell released her first own album, followed a year later by Tina Campbell and both were able to build on their mutual successes.
Band members
- Erica Campbell (born April 29, 1972 in Inglewood, California)
- Trecina "Tina" Campbell (born May 1, 1975 in Inglewood, California)
Discography
Albums
- Thankful (2000)
- Incredible (2002)
- Mary Mary (2005)
- A Mary Mary Christmas (2006)
- The Sound (2008)
- Something Big (2011)
- Go Get It (2012)
Singles
- Shackles (Praise You) (2000)
- I Sings (with BB Jay ; 2001)
- Can't Give Up Now (2001)
- Wade in the Water (2001)
- In the Morning (2002)
- Dance, Dance, Dance (2003)
- Won't Ever Change (2003)
- Heaven (2005)
- The Real Party (2005)
- Yesterday (2006)
- Believer (2006)
- Gift of Love (2006)
- Love Him Like I Do (2008)
- Get Up (2008)
- God in Me (with Kierra "KiKi" Sheard; 2009)
- Walking (2011)
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Web links
- Official Homepage (English)
- Biography at Soul tracks (English)
- Biography at Encyclopedia.com (English)
- Mary Mary at Allmusic (English)