When Gospel fans watched The Clark Sisters on Lifetime this year, they not only heard some of their favorite gospel tunes like the 1981 hit, "You Brought the Sunshine", they'll finally saw the full story behind the legendary group. There's so much more to see about the sister’s lives besides singing, including unplanned pregnancy, attempted suicide and abusive relationships. Fans were shocked and treated to powerful performances by Aunjanue Ellis, who plays the late Mattie Moss Clark, the legendary choir director who created The Clark Sisters. Also, other great performances were made by Jacky Clark Chisholm (Angela Birchett), Denise “Niecy” Clark Bradford (Raven Goodwin), Elbernita “Twinkie” Clark (Christina Bell) and Dorinda Clark-Cole (Sheléa Frazier).
As the daughter of a pioneering gospel music icon, Karen Clark Sheard was birthed into a musical legacy of greatness and began making hits with her four sisters when she was just barely a teen. Now with nearly 20 years of success as a solo artist, the 4-time Grammy winner looks back in amazement. Destined to Win, one of her most successful solo albums, seemed like an obvious choice of title for a woman with music literally etched into her DNA and accolades upon accolades, but claiming her birthright as a winner has not come without its challenges.
"God is not surprised by what challenges we have," the now 60-year-old Clark Sheard shared in an interview with BlackDoctor.org. "That's what motivates me to keep believing and press forward. Press through the fight." Right before recording her 2002 album Second Chance, Clark Sheard had a serious encounter with her health - a blood clot in her lungs and another in her leg.
Other complications followed and she was in a coma for about three and half weeks, with the doctors only giving her two percent chance to live. When she came out of the coma, the singer/songwriter says her first thought was, “Is it over for me with my career?”
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Known the world over for her one-of-a-kind multi-octave vocal range, the concern was an understandable one, but being the woman of faith that she is, Clark Sheard recognized the setback as a trick of the enemy and fought through it. “I had the faith even though my body was saying one thing,” she recalls. "You have to program faith in your mind in order for it to affect your body."
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The same programming that got her through one of the most physically, emotionally and spiritually trying periods of her life is what inspired the title Destined to Win, also a title track on the album. "That title, I made it personal first,” Clark Sheard explained, “hoping that the people that listen to my record not only will they listen but they will make that message destined to win personal."
Like an affirmation or mantra, “destined to win” is a statement that resonates and people can immediately relate to it. They can repeat it over and over, “programming” it into their spirit.
Destined to Win debuted at #2 on Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart and at #20 on the Billboard Top 200, making it Clark Sheard’s highest chart debut on the Top 200 for a solo album. Even with chart-topping success, the multi-faceted artist knows without a doubt that “God is bigger than me being an artist.”
From being a public speaker, founder of a record company, Karew Records, alongside her husband, and mentor to others in the industry, Clark Sheard continues to inspire lives beyond the walls of churches and wax of records. Her legacy is steeped in something her mother, Dr. Mattie Moss Clark, taught the Clark girls early on. “One thing my mother use to always say, 'God didn't just put you on earth just for yourself, it's for others.'”
Destiny fulfilled.
Purchase Destined to Win on iTunes.
