As far as music industry award ceremonies go, none are bigger or more prestigious than The Grammy Awards. The Grammy’s, as they are affectionately known, take place annually in cities…
Mary Mary
71
Go Get It
Quick facts about Mary Mary
CAREER
Mary Mary is a duo made up of Erica Atkins-Campbell and Trecina “Tina” Atkins-Campbell. The American sisters have been making urban contemporary gospel music together since 1998.
ACTIVE FROM
1998 – present
CAREER ACHIEVEMENTS
2 Grammy Awards and 4 nominations, 7 GMA Dove Award and 3 nominations, 2 AMA Awards, 17 Stellar Awards, 1 Soul Train Award, 1 ASCAP Award, 3 BET Awards, 2 Image Awards, 2 Lady of Soul Awards, 2 MOBO Awards and 2 NAACP Image Awards.
GENRE
Gospel, soul, pop, R&B, urban contemporary gospel, jazz.
PLACE OF ORIGIN
Inglewood, California, U.S.
ALBUMS
5 studio albums, 1 compilation album, 1 holiday album, 19 singles.
Early Life
Tina and Erica grew up with their seven siblings in Inglewood, California. Their mother, Thomasina Atkins worked as a choir director at the Church of God in Christ along with the girls’ father, Eddie A. Atkins, who was also a member and youth director there. Tina and Erica were closer to each other than their other siblings due to their proximity in age.
Over the course of their career, they would work with more than half of their siblings on a variety of creative projects. Their mother and some of their sisters have sung background vocals on a number of Mary Mary albums and joined them for on-stage performances. Eventually, all the Atkins siblings came together on the Bobby Jones Gospel show which aired on BET.
Not long after, the sisters began participating in more church choirs, travelling gospel shows and other televised productions. They also enrolled at El Camino College to study music, where they focused on improving their already impressive vocal technique. A quirky twist of fate saw both sisters go on to marry husbands who both had the last name Campbell.
Building a Reputation
After Mary Mary met producer Warryn Campbell, they decided on signing a publishing deal with EMI which led to several of their songs appearing on the soundtracks of movies. These included “Dance”, which they performed with Robin S. for the 1998 film ‘Dr. Dolittle’, and “Let Go, Let God” for ‘The Prince of Egypt.’
However, it wasn’t until fellow gospel singer, Yolanda Adams, recorded their songs “Time to Change” and “Yeah” on her ‘Mountain High… Valley Low’ album, that Mary Mary’s name gained valuable exposure which lifted its profile within the industry.
“The message of God is universal. It’s worldwide. It’s for everybody.” - Erica Atkins-Campbell
A Career in Music
It was around this time, when Mary Mary, truly became a musical duo. The sisters signed to Columbia Records and decided on the name ‘Mary Mary’ as their stage name, to honour Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene from the Bible.
In 2000, Mary Mary released their debut album, ‘Thankful’, which saw them become the first gospel act that Columbia Records had recorded with since Tramaine Hawkins. Since then, they have continued to write and release new gospel music. Between 2007 and 2012, the sisters worked as judges with Donnie McClurkin on the gospel music competition, Sunday Best.
In 2014, the duo decided to take a hiatus to focus on their solo careers and their families. That year, Erica released her first solo album, ‘Help’, and followed it up in 2015 with ‘Help 2.0’. Tina also released her debut solo album in 2015, titled ‘It’s Personal’.
Relationship with God
In a recent interview, the girls explained how much God has helped them on their musical journey, and how blessed they feel that their song writing process happens quite organically, with new songs coming naturally to them.
They also outlined how they want to share God with people who are not in the church. They want others to be able to experience His greatness and what He can do for them. The sisters see this as their most important goal: to change lives. They also expressed their gratitude that God chose them to write music and gifted them the opportunity to perform, because they believe it could have been anyone- yet He chose them.
Latest Release
Mary Mary’s most recent studio album was their 2011 release ‘Something Big.’ The album peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Top 200, number 2 on Billboard’s Top Gospel album chart and number 6 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop album chart.
Shackles (Praise You)
I Worship You
Go Get It
Love You That Much
Can’t Give Up Now
I Sings
God in Me
Ordinary People
God Has Smiled on Me
Walking
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