Presskit

TOP 3 ON THE GOSPEL ALBUMS CHART
(2 CONSECUTIVE WEEKS)
BIOGRAPHY
Grammy, Stellar, and Dove Award nominated trio Virtue consis6ng of sisters Karima Kibble, Heather Mar1n, and Ebony Holland are back with their long awaited 7th studio project FEARLESS on the Mixed Bag Entertainment imprint released on February 26, 2016. The 16-­‐track collec6on features produc6on by GRAMMY®-­‐winning super producers Fred Jerkins (Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston), Mark Kibble (Take 6, BeBe & CeCe Winans), Asaph Ward (The Clark Sisters, Mary J Blige), and Alvin GarreC (Joe, Ruben Studdard) along with newcomers Jamiene Thompson, Armand HuCon, Dennis Atkinson, Andre Johnson, and Major3rd Produc1ons (Gerald “DaGospelTruth” Jones, Jus1n Francis, and Carlos Woodard). FEARLESS is led by the Top 20 single “You Are” and the group’s current uptempo single “Walk It Out”. They team with RCA Records ar6st Dee-­‐1 on the album’s 6tle track, while offering remakes of the Pop ballad “More Than Words” (first performed by the rock band Extreme) and “Miracle” from The Clark Sisters. With nearly 20 years in the music industry and nearly 500,000 in career sales (according to Nielsen Soundscan) -­‐ making them one of the best-­‐selling Gospel female groups of all-­‐6me -­‐ Virtue is known for hits such as “Get Ready", “Greatest Part of Me”, “Follow Me”, “Put Your War Clothes On” and more and have released six projects between 1997 and 2006 (Four peaking in the Top 10 on Billboard). Aber a lengthy hiatus, they returned to the industry in 2014 signing with the Mixed Bag Entertainment imprint, headed up by Stellar Award winning hip-­‐hop ar6st Da’ T.R.U.T.H. They would then release the single “You Are”, which spent eight consecu6ve weeks in the Top 20 on Billboard and MediaBase Gospel Airplay charts and reissued their 2006 effort, 6tling the project Tes,mony Reloaded in 2015 with the project peaking in the Top 20 on Billboard's Top Gospel Albums chart. 2015 was a comeback year for the sisterly trio being named "One of 16 Gospel Ar6sts to Watch" by Essence.com. They made high-­‐profile appearances along side Grammy award winner Bebe Winans for the Centric Celebrates Selma Concert (BET/ MTV Jams/TV Land/ Centric) that also featured R&B, Soul, Gospel and Hip-­‐Hop acts such as Aloe Blacc, Angie Stone, Doug E. Fresh, Kelly Price, Kirk Franklin, MC Lyte, Eric Benet, and more. The concert commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery civil rights march on the Edmund Petus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. President Obama, Harry Belafonte, Peter Yarrow and other historical figures made appearances. The concert was one of many high profile media appearances for Virtue in 2015. The sisters appeared on "News One Now with Roland Mar6n" (TV One), the 16th Annual Gospel SuperFest (TV One), the 30th Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards (TV One), and na6onally syndicated radio shows The Rickey Smiley Morning Show, The Russ Parr Morning Show, and The Yolanda Adams Morning Show among more. Undoubtedly inking yet another page to their illustrious story, the release of the forthcoming album will act as the latest milestone of Virtue’s musical journey. A journey that saw its humble beginnings in New Orleans, the group’s original lineup featured founder Ebony Holland, Karima Kibble, and Shavonne Floyd Sampson. Under the name Endurance, the trio thrilled audiences with air6ght harmonies and piercing, hearkelt deliveries of praise-­‐and-­‐worship numbers. Their rising buzz would catch the eye of Verity Records, who signed them as the label’s first girl group under a new moniker – Virtue. The addi6on of new member, Negelle Green, would only assist in broadening the spectrum of their already diverse sound as they would impart a noteworthy self-­‐6tled debut in 1997. Quickly becoming gospel music’s new “it” group, Virtue’s '99 sophomore release, Get Ready, served as an Urban-­‐ flavored toast to the new direc6on the genre was headed. Decorated with numbers “Get Ready,” “Love Me Like You Do,” “Angels Watching Over Me,” and “Put Your War Clothes On,” the album skyrocketed to the Billboard Gospel Album charts’ Top 5 upon its debut. Leading the group to get ready for their biggest hits yet, the next years’ saw the one 6me quartet move forward without Sampson and Sumter to transform into an all sister act with new group member/younger sister Heather Mar6n. The move proved itself fruikul as their first album as a newly formed trio, Virtuosity, would rise to #4 on the Billboard Gospel Album charts and garner four nomina6ons at the 18th Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards including “Contemporary CD of the Year” and “Group/Duo of the Year.” The upward incline of success would con6nue to show itself mobile with their fourth album, Free (2003). Not only was it greeted with cri6cal acclaim, but it would see the sisters net a Dove award nomina6on for “Urban Album of the Year.” With a more aggressively R&B-­‐cloaked sound aboard their Darkchild Gospel-­‐helmed 2006 release, Tes,mony, the ladies of Virtue would once again prove themselves frontrunners in the contemporary gospel genre. A sen6ment echoed by the Stellar Award academy who yet again honored the group with a nomina6on for “Contemporary Group/Duo of the Year” at its 22nd annual showing. Now, with nearly a decade separa6ng them from their last studio release, the ladies of Virtue are ready to carve a new path along the trail of contemporary gospel. Having supplemented their 6me away from the genre’s spotlight to tend to family masers, the group is now preparing a project to not only showcase their maturity as women, but as ar6sts as well. #VIRTUE
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National television
(2015) 30th Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards (TV One) (2015) 16th Annual Gospel SuperFest (Syndicated) (2015) Centric Celebrates Selma (BET/MTV Jams/TV Land/ Centric) (2015) News One Now w/ Roland Mar6n (TV One) The Stellar Awards (Syndicated) Gospel of Music with Jeff Majors (TV One) Praise The Lord (TBN) Celebra6on of Gospel (BET) Bobby Jones Gospel (BET) Lib Every Voice (BET) DISCOGRAPHY
2016 Fearless (Mixed Bag/eOne) #3 Top Gospel Album (2 Consecu6ve Weeks) #11 Top C&G -­‐ Mainstream Retail Chart #12 Top Combined Chris6an/Gospel Albums #15 Top C&G Current Physical Albums #21 Top Combined C&G Digital Albums #25 Top Independent Albums (All Genres) #125 Top 200 Albums Chart (All Genres) #1 E1 Entertainment Distributor Chart 2015 Tes1mony: Reloaded (Mixed Bag/eOne) #20 Top Gospel Albums Chart 2006 Tes1mony (DarkChild Gospel) #23 Top Gospel Albums Chart 2004 Nothing But The Hits (Verity/Sony) 2003 Free (Verity/Sony) #10 Top Gospel Albums Chart #34 Top Chris6an Albums Chart 2001 Virtuosity (Verity/Sony) #4 Top Gospel Album Chart #23 Top Contemporary Chris6an Chart #33 Heat Seekers Chart 1999 Get Ready (Verity/Sony) #4 Top Gospel Albums Chart #10 Top Contemporary Chris6an Chart #22 Top Heat Seekers Chart 1997 Virtue (Verity/Sony) #6 Top Gospel Albums Chart #16 Top Contemporary Chris6an #VIRTUE
RADIO SINGLES:
• (2016) "Miracle" ▶ Serviced to Gospel radio Feb. 2016 • (2015) “Walk It Out” ▶ #28 Mediabase Gospel Airplay • (2014) "You Are" ▶ #17 Billboard Gospel Airplay ▶ #17 Mediabase Gospel Airplay • (2006) "Follow Me” ▶ #4 Hot Gospel Songs NOTABLE SINGLES:
(2003) Lord, I Lib My Hands (2002) He’s Been Good (2001) Til You Believe (2000) Angels Watching Over Me (1999) Put Your War Clothes On (1999) Get Ready (1998) Let The Redeemed (1997) Greatest Part of Me ▶ #10 Billboard Hot Contemporary Chris6an Chart *Note: Nielsen Soundscan didn't start detec,ng gospel radio singles un,l 2005 for char,ng purposes. AWARDS/NOMINATIONS:
(2006) Grammy Awards Gospel Album of the Year (Tes1mony, Darkchild) ▶ Nominated (2004) Stellar Awards Group / Duo of the Year (Free, Verity Records) ▶ Nominated (2003) Dove Awards Urban Album of the Year (Free, Verity Records) ▶ Nominated (2002) Stellar Awards Contemp. CD of the Year (Virtuosity, Verity/Sony) ▶ Nominated Group / Duo of the Year (Virtuosity, Verity/Sony) ▶ Nominated COMPILATION ALBUMS / AS A FEATURED ARTIST:
(2003) Darwin Hobbs' album Ver6cal with "So Amazing" (EMI Gospel) (1999) The Real Meaning of Christmas: Vol 3 by Various Ar6sts (Verity Records/Jive) (1999) Bridges: Songs of Unity and Purpose -­‐duet w/ Clay Crosse (Benson Records) (1998) The Real Meaning of Christmas: Vol 2 by Various Ar6sts (Verity Records/Jive) (1995) A Tribute to Mrs. Rosa Parks -­‐ In Conjunc6on w/ Fred Hammond (Verity Records/Jive) NATIONAL TOURS:
(2003) Evolu6on II Tour (w/ Byron Cage, Tonex, Lisa McClendon, Percy Bady & More) (2001) Sisters In The Spirit Tour (w/ Yolanda Adams, Mary Mary, and Shirley Caesar) VIDEOS:
“You Just Be You" | The Gospel According to Jeff Majors (TV One)
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URBAN GOSPEL SISTER TRIO VIRTUE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED 7TH STUDIO CD “FEARLESS” AVAILABLE FOR PRE-­‐ORDER TODAY 16-­‐TRACK COLLECTION AVAILABLE IN STORES AND ONLINE FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2016 ALBUM BOASTS PRODUCTION BY SUPER PRODUCERS FRED JERKINS, ASAPH WARD, MARK KIBBLE AMONG MORE Project Features The Top 20 Hit Song “You Are,” The Title-­‐Track “Fearless,” Featuring Hip Hop Recording Ar6st Dee-­‐1 The Breathtaking Remakes Of The #1 Hit Pop Ballad “More Than Words” And The Clark Sisters’ “Miracle” Among More PHILADELPHIA, PA (Friday, January 22, 2016) -­‐ -­‐ GRAMMY, Stellar and Dove Award nominated Urban Gospel sister trio VIRTUE (Karima Kibble, Heather Mar6n, and Ebony Holland) forthcoming 7th studio album FEARLESS (Mixed Bag Entertainment) is available for pre-­‐order today via iTunes. Fans that pre-­‐
order prior to the official street date will receive three instant grat tracks: the uplibing single "You Are," the 6tle-­‐track "Fearless" featuring RCA Records rapper Dee-­‐1 and "Walk It Out". The forthcoming 16-­‐track collec6on boast produc6on by super producers Fred Jerkins(Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston), Mark Kibble (Take 6, BeBe & CeCe Winans), Asaph Ward (The Clark Sisters, Mary J Blige), and Alvin GarreC (Joe, Ruben Studdard) to name a few. FEARLESS features the Top 20 radio single “You Are” and the group’s uptempo buzz single “Walk It Out” while offering remakes of the Pop ballad “More Than Words” (first performed by the rock band Extreme) and “Miracle” from The Clark Sisters. With nearly 20 years in the music industry and nearly 500K in career sales (according to Nielsen Soundscan) the group is known for hits such as “Get Ready", “Greatest Part of Me”, “Follow Me”, “Put Your War Clothes On” and more and have released six projects between 1997 and 2006 (Four of which peaking in the Top 10). Aber a lengthy hiatus, they returned to the industry in 2014 signing with the Mixed Bag Entertainment imprint, headed up by Stellar Award winning hip-­‐hop ar6st Da’ T.R.U.T.H. They would then release the single “You Are”, which spent eight consecu6ve weeks in the Top 20 on Billboard BDS and MediaBase Gospel Airplay charts and reissued their 2006 effort, 6tling the project Tes,mony Reloaded in 2015 with the project peaking in the Top 20 on Billboard's Top Gospel Albums Sales chart. The group has made high profile na6onal TV appearances on “BET’s Celebra6on of Gospel,” “BET’s Lib Every Voice,” The Stellar Gospel Music Awards, The GMA Dove Awards, “BET’s Bobby Jones Gospel,” "The AllState Gospel Superfest" and “News One Now with Roland Mar6n” (TV One) among more. For more informa6on on VIRTUE please visit their website at www.VirtueGirls3.com and on their social media plakorms at Facebook.com/VirtueGirls, Twiser.com/VirtueGirls and Instagram.com/VirtueGirls. Look for FEARLESS to be available in stores and on all digital outlets on February 26, 2016. Virtue's "Fearless" Pre-­‐Order Link: hsps://goo.gl/jqujvB
POPULAR SISTER TRIO, VIRTUE, CELEBRATES THEIR HIGHEST BILLBOARD CHARTING DEBUT IN THEIR 20-­‐YEAR CAREER WITH 7TH STUDIO ALBUM FEARLESS FEARLESS DEBUTS AT #3 ON BILLBOARD'S TOP GOSPEL ALBUMS CHART, #12 ON THE COMBINED CHRISTIAN/GOSPEL ALBUMS CHART, #21 ON THE COMBINED CHRISTIAN/GOSPEL CURRENT DIGITAL ALBUMS CHART, #25 ON THE TOP INDEPENDENT ALBUMS CHART AND #125 ON BILLBOARD OVERALL TOP ALBUMS CHART (Monday, March 7, 2016) -­‐ -­‐ Acclaimed GRAMMY, Dove and Stellar Award-­‐nominated female group VIRTUE that consist of blood sisters Ebony Holland, Karima Kibble and Heather Mar1n celebrates their highest char6ng debut in their 20 year career with 7th studio album FEARLESS (Mixed Bag) debu6ng at #3 on Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums chart this week. The release also debuted at #12 on Billboard’s Top Chris1an & Gospel Albums chart, #21 on the Chris1an & Gospel Current Digital Albums chart, #25 on the Top Independent Albums chart and #125 on Billboard’s Overall Top Albums chart. Released on February 26th, Virtue’s debut on Billboard’s charts also follows on the albums digital success. Receiving early acclaim from the moment they released their album, fans have eagerly embraced the project with it jexng to the Top 10 on AmazonMusic Best Sellers Chris1an Digital Albums chart. Mixed Bag Entertainment's label execu6ves Gary CrockeC, Mark Mims and Emanuel Lambert says: "We are super excited and very greaIul at the response of the new album. Were looking forward to great things for the rest of the year and this is just the beginning." Gerald Jones, A&R Director of Mixed Bag adds: "I'm very proud of the girls and all of their hardwork and I truly believe this is their best album to date." Lauded by music cri6cs across the country the project also garnered excep6onal reviews. Examiner.com gives the album 5 out of 5 stars. GospelPundit.com writes: "Fearless is full of the musical hallmarks that Virtue fans first fell in love with–feel-­‐good music with passionate leads set to lush and intricate background vocals. AXS.com adds: "Fearless is exactly that, a matured sound for matured believers who love urban gospel. The ladies of Virtue have brought to gospel music the grown and cool sound that has fueled adult urban music for the last decade.” Journal of Gospel Music’s Bob Marovich states: “Karima Kibble, Ebony Holland, and Heather Mar6n augment their characteris6cally sunny, breezy and op6mis6c outlook with asser6ve Urban Contemporary licks, electrified harmonies, and injec6ons of electronica.” The 14-­‐track new album includes the current Asaph Ward produced radio single “Miracle” (made popular by the Clark Sisters) along with the Top 20 single “You Are,” the Top 30 pulsa6ng track “Walk It Out,” the remake of the #1 Pop ballad “More Than Words” and the 6tle-­‐track single “Fearless” featuring rapper Dee-­‐1 who's making news of his own these days with his track "Sallie Mae Back", an ode to the student loans plight The album also features two bonus songs which includes a lush ballad en6tled "I Love Him" and a remix version of the 6tle-­‐track that features Dee-­‐1 and emerging female rapper Shakiah. Catch Virtue live on stage throughout this year, including upcoming performances at Bishop Joseph Walker’s Mt. Zion Bap6st Church in Nashville on Sunday, March 13th and Aus6n, Texas at the SXSW Music Fes6val. For more informa6on on Virtue please visit their website at www.VirtueGirls3.com and on their social media plakorms at Facebook.com/VirtueGirls, Twiser.com/VirtueGirls and Instagram.com/
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