Most high school students start the school year with a little anticipation, a
little nervousness. Seventeen-year-old Kierra "Kiki" Sheard started her
senior year of high school with a history-making album debut. The EMI
Gospel sensation has landed at the top of the charts with her first CD, I
Owe You. Released on September 7, the album, powered by its first
single -- the Rodney Jerkins-produced hit "You Don't Know" -- blasted into the
number one spot on both the Billboard Gospel and the Billboard
Heatseeker charts. The high-flying debut also landed at number four on the
Billboard Christian chart, number 29 on Billboard R&B and
number 115 on the Billboard Top 200. "You Don't Know" has been
number one on the R&R Gospel Radio chart for two weeks running.
"To my knowledge this is unprecedented," says EMI Gospel Vice-President and
General Manager Larry Blackwell. "This is the first time in the history of
the Soundscan era that a new gospel artist has debuted at number one on the
gospel sales charts."
In addition to Jerkins' "You Don't Know," I Owe You includes songs
from some of today's hottest gospel music producers including: "Praise
Offering," "Closer," and "Church Nite" (PAJAM); "All I Am," "Done Did It," and
"Let Go" (Warryn Campbell); "Sweetest Thing" and "War" (J Drew and Earl Wright
III), among others.
"It's always inspiring to work with great artists - to work with Kierra
Sheard who at age 17 is already an amazing singer has been doubly inspiring,"
states Ken Pennell, President of EMI Gospel. "She's using her wonderful
talent to convey the gospel message to her own generation. We look forward
to helping her in that cause for many years to come."
Though this is her first album, Sheard has been immersed in Gospel music
since birth, and her career follows a long-standing family commitment that began
with Sheard's grandmother, Dr. Mattie Moss Clark, president of the Church of God
in Christ Music Department for 25 years. Since the age of nine, Sheard has
performed with her mother, Karen Clark-Sheard, and aunts -- the legendary Clark
Sisters. Sheard was a featured vocalist on all three of her mother's
solo releases, and her performance of "The Will Of God" on Clark-Sheard's 1997
solo debut, Finally Karen, brought the young Sheard a prestigious Stellar Award
for Best Children's Performance.
Now, after years of playing supporting roles in the family business, the
teenage Sheard stands triumphantly at center stage. She toured extensively
last summer during her school break, performing with her mother and Aunt Dorinda
Clark and The Clark Sisters, and will continue to perform at scheduled intervals
-- when her schoolwork allows. "The Clark family has passed the torch to
Kiki," says Blackwell. "And she's running with it."
