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ASCAP Joins with Motown Gospel to Celebrate 2026 Stellar Awards Nominees
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, together with Motown Gospel, celebrated the most renowned names in gospel music at the Stellar Awards Nominee Mixer August 13.
JGM Pick of the Week – June 15, 2026
In the church-wrecking tradition of the Caravans, veteran gospel singer Beverly Crawford shouts and squalls it up on “Made a Way.'
JGM Pick of the Week – June 10, 2026
Dawne Cole is from Chicago and her Windy City chops come out loud and clear on “I Called On Jesus,” a traditional-style selection about the power of prayer.
Sponsored Posts:
Bob Marovich of the Journal of Gospel Music interviews gospel recording artist Lil Prince.
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Recent Posts
ASCAP Joins with Motown Gospel to Celebrate 2026 Stellar Awards Nominees
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, together with Motown Gospel, celebrated the most renowned names in gospel music at the Stellar Awards Nominee Mixer August 13.
JGM Pick of the Week – June 15, 2026
In the church-wrecking tradition of the Caravans, veteran gospel singer Beverly Crawford shouts and squalls it up on “Made a Way.'
JGM Pick of the Week – June 10, 2026
Dawne Cole is from Chicago and her Windy City chops come out loud and clear on “I Called On Jesus,” a traditional-style selection about the power of prayer.
Sponsored Post:
“Abide With Me” Ricky Kej feat. Ricky Dillard From the 2025 CD Gandhi: Mantras of Compassion
(September 19, 2025, Los Angeles, CA) — Erica Campbell is no stranger to the spotlight. As a six-time GRAMMY® Award-winning artist, bestselling author, and morning radio host, she’s graced stages [...]
Charlotte, NC – The Quartet Music Awards® (QMA®) is proud to announce its 4th Annual Awards Show, set to take place on Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Charlotte, North Carolina. [...]
A week after Bishop Norman Hutchins left this earth, Pastor Markees Williams released his version of Hutchins’s “Nobody But Jesus.”
CeCe Winans' More Than This World Tour has expanded into a global phenomenon, marking her first international tour in more than a decade and reinforcing her influence as both an artist and evangelist.
LATEST 5 STAR REVIEWS
Various Artists The Best of Revelation Records: 1959-1962 Narro Way Records (released September 16, 2014) www.cityhallrecords.com www.gospelfriend.com By Bob Marovich Mention the name Bobby Robinson to popular music historians, and you will hear how he founded a number of New York-based record labels, including Whirling Disc, Fury, Enjoy, and Red Robin, and released classic hits [...]
Sallie and Cora Martin Just A Little Talk with Jesus Gospel Friend (release date: September 16, 2014) www.cityhallrecords.com By Bob Marovich Sallie Martin, the Mother of Gospel Music, paved the way for those who paved the way. A no-nonsense singer, group leader, choir director, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, Martin helped Thomas A. Dorsey sell his catalog [...]
Various Artists The Soul of Designer Records Big Legal Mess (2014) www.biglegalmessrecords.com By Bob Marovich In the days before YouTube and other social media outlets, before mp3s and CDs and music maker software for home computers, gospel artists looking for greater promotion but without a major label deal sought out the expertise of bootstrap entrepreneurs [...]
Smokie Norful Forever Yours Tre Myles Music / Motown Gospel (2014) www.motowngospel.com By Bob Marovich Grammy Award-winning vocalist Smokie Norful burst upon the national stage in 2002 with the breakout hit, “I Need You Now.” The song, featuring Norful’s trademark melismatic tenor, not only garnered significant gospel radio airplay, but also made the playlist of [...]
Ricky Dillard & New G Amazing Light Records/eOne Entertainment (release date: June 10, 2014) www.rickydillard.net By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog Ricky Dillard was once the young turk on the gospel block. Beginning in the late 1980s, Dillard and the New Generation Chorale, a Chicago gospel choir steeped in the full-throated tradition [...]
LATEST PICK OF THE WEEK – SINGLES
“God, You’ve Been Faithful” Lucinda Moore & Tramaine Hawkins Nalah Music Group (release date: March 31, 2023)
“Live Again” Kelontae Gavin From the Marquis Boone Enterprises LLC / RCA Inspiration album Testify (single release date: March 10, 2023)
“Move Upstairs” Tim Woodson and the Heirs of Harmony Marxan Records (release date: January 27, 2023)
“When Love Comes In” Jonathan Butler feat. Keb’ Mo’ From the Artistry Music / Mack Avenue Music Group album Ubuntu (release date: April 28, 2023)
“It Is Well” Monica Lisa Stevenson Blacksmoke Music Worldwide (release date: April 28, 2023)
By Robert Marovich
In A City Called Heaven, gospel announcer and music historian Robert Marovich shines a light on the humble origins of a majestic genre and its indispensable bond to the city where it found its voice: Chicago.
By Robert Marovich
In A City Called Heaven, gospel announcer and music historian Robert Marovich shines a light on the humble origins of a majestic genre and its indispensable bond to the city where it found its voice: Chicago.
Photo Credit: Getty Images By Bob Marovich When tragedy struck Regina Love, it hit hard. She lost her son, father, and mother back to back. In 2014, a nephew committed suicide. That’s when a “still, small voice” within her—“I knew it was God,” she told the Journal of Gospel Music—persuaded her to renew [...]
By Bob Marovich Not that she would have called it her bucket list, but a young Janice Gaines had three childhood aspirations. “As a little kid,” she told the Journal of Gospel Music, I would play like was a teacher, and I would play like I was a singer, and I would play like I [...]
corinnakopf nude A. Jeffrey LaValley; Credit: Facebook Get the details behind the creation of some of gospel music's most popular songs at JGM's Genesis of a Gospel Song. A. Jeffrey LaValley: “Revelation 19” (Hallelujah, Salvation and Glory) A. Jeffrey LaValley, as told to JGM’s Bob Marovich I was born in Milwaukee and brought up [...]
Dewitt Johnson, a Nashvillian and co-organizer of the B. C. & M. Mass Choir and founder of the Johnson Ensemble, has gone on to earn his wings.
By Robert M. Marovich JGM learned from Darrell Luster of the Malaco Music Group that Mr. Haywood Barnes of the Sunset Jubilaires gospel quartet passed away on August 14, 2023. He was born February 23, 1941. Here is the announcement from the obituary page: We are sad to announce that on August 14, 2023, at [...]
