Welcome to Gospel-Spotlight.com!! GS NEWS ROOM, 1# FIRST WITH NEWS     July 3, 2009 UPDATE!! ..  Tarralyn Ramsey in Philly.... Did Michael Jackson accepted the Lord....  July 3, 2009 UPDATE!! ..  Mary Mary receives BET Award...  News News News News News News News News News ___________________________________________ Three weeks ago Sandra and Andrae'Crouch spent some time with their close friend, Michael Jackson. It is reported that Michael asked Andrae` to play, "It Won't Be Long And We'll Be Leaving Here." Michael then prayed with Sandra and Andrae' and accepted Christ into his heart. This report is according to MARY MARY’s Facebook Page. Mary Mary walked away with the Best Gospel Artist Award at the 2009 BET Awards. The group also performed "God In Me" with a special cameo appearance from Queen Latifah. Tarralyn Ramsey is gearing up for her long awaited return to the industry. She performanced at the Philadelphia Gospel Fest on June 27, 2009. Tarralyn Ramsey's full length CD "Beyond The Darkness" is slated for September. Pop icon and legend Michael Jackson passed on June 25, 2009 after suffering cardiac arrest. He was 50 years old. Known for hit albums such as Off The Wall and Thriller, Jackson earned the title as "The King of Pop." His musical influence can be heard through a myriad of gospel artists such as John P. Kee, Deitrick Haddon, Tonex and many others. The Gospel Spotlight joins with the Jackson family, friends and the entertainment community in mourning the loss. On July 29, 2009 it's the live recording of Youth for Christ and it will be held in Orlando, Florida in conjunction with the Anointed Radical Motivated Youth (ARMY) Conference. Fred Hammond makes his long awaited return with his new single "They That Wait". He is teamed with John P. Kee on the single. Available on iTunes, it is the lead single from Fred Hammond's upcoming project Love Unstoppable, due in stores on September 29, 2009. Malaco Music Group, home of Maurette Brown Clark, Mississippi Mass Choir, Luther Barnes and more, announces the launch of Pay-Per-Download Ringtones at their site malaco.com. As a special promotion, the label will include a coupon for a free ringtone in many of the upcoming 2009 Malaco releases. In the event that a desired ringtone is unavailable, the site offers the "Request a Ringtone" function which will upload the desired ringtone in 24-48 hours. Sheri Jones-Moffett of the group Ted & Sheri has signed with EMI Gospel. She is gearing up for her debut solo release "Renewed," due out August 11. BET is gearing up for the taping of the next season of Bobby Jones Gospel. This year's tapings take place on July 24-26 and July 31-August 2 at BET Studios in Washington, DC. Dr. Bobby Jones, celebrates its 30th season this year. EMI Gospel has entered into a long-term distribution deal with Karen Clark Sheard and Karew Records. This creates the opportunity for Karen and The Clark Sisters to own their masters and gain greater creative control over their future careers. Karen Clark Sheard's next solo effort will be the first project released on the label later this year. In addition, the label will release a new Christmas CD entitled "Clark Family Christmas" due in October and a new Clark Sisters release in early 2010. A natural gas explosion Sunday morning heavily damaged the sunroom at the home of Dallas megachurch pastor T.D. Jakes. No one was injured in the blast, which investigators said appeared to be an accident. Lt. Kent Worley, spokesman for the Fort Worth Fire Department, said the sunroom had a gas-fed pool heater and a large gas-fed barbecue grill. Worley said the damage was centered on the sunroom and there did not appear to be any major structural damage to the 15,000-square-foot home itself. Jakes was in another home on the property when someone else at the home went to investigate the loud noise. The milestones continue to pour in for Marvin Sapp’s “Never Would Have Made It,” which has officially sold 1,254,957 ringtones. It was also named Top Song of 2008 by The Associated Press and remained #1 at Gospel radio for 47 weeks, making it the longest #1 radio single for all formats. J.J. Hairston & Youthful Praise are preparing for their summer tour to kick off on June 20, 2009 in Newark, NJ with stops in Cincinnati, OH, Annapolis, MD, Perth Amboy, NJ, and Knoxville, TN. J.J. Hairston & Youthful Praise will release their new album Resting On His Promises on August 11, 2009 with guest appearances from Dorinda Clark-Cole, Myron Butler, and Pastor Shirley Caesar. Malaco Music Group announced the signing of Gospel/R&B music superstars BeBe and CeCe Winans to an exclusive distribution deal for B & C Records, their first joint record label venture. BeBe and CeCe's upcoming CD is due in stores late September. VaShawn Mitchell is getting ready for his next recording session. The live CD/DVD set entitled Triumphant is scheduled to take place on August 8, 2009 at Higher Living Christian Church, where Mitchell serves as Minister of Worship. Special guest include Lowell Pye, Lisa Page Brooks, and Lecresia Campbell. The legendary Clark Sisters have been added to the all-star line-up for the forthcoming CD, “I Wanna Thank You… An All-Star Tribute to Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly”. The album will also feature artists such as Mary J. Blige, Musiq Soulchild, Mint Condition, Raheem DeVaughn and Ledisi among others. The Clark Sisters will revive Maze featuring Frankie Beverly’s “I Wanna Thank You” for the project. Joining the sisters on the song will be their cousin, J. Moss, and Kierra "KiKi"Sheard. Lucinda Moore is gearing up for her new album which is due out this Fall. She's also working on her autobiography titled "Turning Pressure Into Praise". CeCe Winans is expanding the scope of her annual Always Sisters Conference, initially designed to empower young ladies ages 13-26, will now include young men of the same demographic. The new name Always Sisters, Forever Brothers, the conference will convene on July 24-25 at the Curb Events Center on the campus of Belmont University in Nashville, TN. The two-day event concludes with a concert featuring Mary Mary, 21:03, Da' T.R.U.T.H., The Katinas, Anthony Evans, and Nia Allen. Cross Movement Records sadly announced that they will be discontinuing the promotion of the Artist and Minister, The Ambassador AKA William “Duce” Branch, due to recent findings of moral failure in his marriage. It is CMR’s past, current and prayerfully, future position that living in moral compromise is unacceptable and never allowable in the lives of any of the ministers that they co-labor with. Dorinda Clark-Cole will host a two to four hour weekly syndicated radio show, Serving Up Soul which will feature health and lifestyle features, comedy, financial tips, motivational encouragement, and interviews with artists and celebrities. The show will also feature current hits and gospel classics. The Mississippi Mass Choir are set to record their next project. The live CD and DVD recording session takes place on June 19, 2009 at the First Baptist Church of Jackson, in Jackson, Mississippi. Kingdom Records has signed the legendary R&B group, The Whispers, to record its’ first gospel CD. Gospel star Fred Hammond has been tapped to produce a handful of tracks for the highly anticipated project that is tentatively scheduled for a fall 2009 release. NBA veteran and bass guitarist Wayman Tisdale passed on May 15, 2009 after a two-year battle with bone cancer. He was 44. Tisdale was a three-time All-American at Oklahoma, spent 12 seasons in the NBA, and was part of the gold medal winning 1984 US Olympic basketball team. In April 2009, Tisdale was selected for induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. After his basketball career, Wayman Tisdale released eight albums which featured collaborations with artists such as Marvin Sapp, Out of Eden, and Lalah Hathaway. He also recorded a full length gospel project titled 21 Days in 2003. New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, senior pastor, Bishop Eddie L. Long and actor, writer, director; Robert Townsend, have formed a partnership to launch Bell Town Productions. Marvin Sapp's "Never Would Have Made It" single has now sold over 1,000,000 mobile units reaching platinum certification. This is the first time a gospel single has made such an accomplishment within mobile media. The BET Award for 2009 Best Gospel Artist has been announced. This year's nominees are Regina Belle, Shirley Caesar, Mary Mary, Smokie Norful, and Trin-i-tee 5:7. Jamie Foxx will host, the 2009 BET Awards. The telecast will go down at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and airs live on BET on June 28 at 8pm ET. Congratulations to Y'Anna Crawley, winner of BET's Sunday Best . The Washington, DC native walked away with a 2009 Lincoln MKS and a national recording contract. The McDonald's Inspiration Celebration Gospel Tour has kicked off its third annual tour, this time with Grammy-Award-winning gospel music artist CeCe Winans as the headliner. The nationwide tour, which started Friday at the Friendship West Baptist Church in Dallas, will hit seven cities this month with free gospel concert events to celebrate of the rich, musical heritage of the African-American community. The Stellar Awards eligibility process is changing for 2010. Record labels will have to enter their artists' eligibility packets online now. They will have from May 1st to August 31st 2009 to submit artists for consideration for the 25th Annual Stellar Awards. In addition, the eligibility period has been extended so that it includes recordings released between July 1, 2008 through to August 31, 2009. Pastor Shirley Caesar was recently named "Rock My Soul" honoree by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The recognition took place as part of the Hall of Fame's Induction Week in Cleveland, Ohio. Men of Standard co-founder Isaac Carree is working on along awaited solo effort. He has amassed a an all-star production team to handle this project, including Rodney Jerkins, P.J. Morton, Warryn Campbell, and Eric Dawkins. Hezekiah Walker is blazing a new path as he opened a new faith community and church in the city of Atlanta, GA. on the campus of Morehouse College. Verizon Wireless presents the 2009 edition of the How Sweet The Sound church choir competition. This national competition gives church choirs in 11 cities the opportunity to perform and compete for the title of "The Best Church Choir in America" and up to $50,000 in cash and prizes. Donald Lawrence is returning as emcee while Marvin Sapp resumes his role as judge. The tour stops in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Memphis, Newark, Oakland, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C.. Bishop Carlton Pearson appeared on ABC's Nightline and reaffirmed his theological position of several years ago about the "Doctrine of Inclusion". Now, Bishop Pearson has declared that the historic Christian teaching which suggest that there is a Satan is false and erroneous. “Over the years, the church has borrowed many myths” suggested Pearson. Grammy-winning gospel singer BeBe Winans was arrested and booked on a misdemeanor assault charge on March 11 for allegedly pushing his ex-wife Debra to the ground in front of their two children over Valentine's Day weekend, according to NBC's local WSMV in Nashville. BeBe Winans, has released the following statement amid allegations of assaulting his ex-wife: “To be accused of these allegations, which arose out of a child custody right dispute and my desire to spend time with our children as court ordered, is nothing less than heart wrenching. Since I choose to say nothing negative about my children’s mother, I will make no comment other than to say the allegations are inconsistent with my character and the foundation upon which I was raised and I am prayerful that the matter is straightened out very soon for the sake of our children.” *********************************************************************** We Spotlight Black Scientists: Fire Extinguisher - Thomas J. Martin - Pat. No. 125,063 Rotary Engine - Andrew J. Bread - Pat. No. 478,271 Pencil Sharper - John L. Love - Pat. No.594, 114 Bridle Bit- Lincoln F. Brown - Pat. No. 484, 994 Golf Tee - George F. Grant -Pat No. 638, 920 Air Conditioning Unit - Fredrick M. Jones - Pat. No. 2,475, 841 Automatic Fishing Device - George Cook - Pat. No. 625, 829 Lawn Sprinkler-Joseph H. Smith- Pat. No. 581, 785 Guitar - Robert F. Flemmings, Jr. - Pat. No. 338,727 Elevator - Alexander Miles - Pat. No. 371,207 ______________________________________ We review Hot Albums! ______________________________________________________ Gospel-Spotlight.com is an E-Magazine with it's focus on Contemporary & Traditional Gospel music. Gospel-Spotlight.com provides vital information to the Gospel Community. We are Your Source for single and album charts, album reviews, audio interviews, artists spotlights and trends that occur in Gospel Music. We are your "Inside Source." This E-Magazine is a tool for Record Companies, Artists, Retail stores, Gospel Music Lover's, Public Relations Firms, Management Companies, Advertisers and Church Choirs and more." ___________________________________ Article:Lisa McClendon New Releases: Updated June 2, 2009!