Donnie McClurkin who was born in South Carolina grew up in Amityville, on Long Island. At age eight, his two-year-old brother was hit and
killed by a speeding driver. Soon after the loss, Donnie experienced
family turmoil due to the loss of his brother and shortly there after he
was a victim of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of his great uncle, and years after that by his great uncle's son. Two of his sisters dealt with substance abuse problems, and that's when the young Donnie found solace in his going to a church; and, also through an aunt of his who sang background vocals with gospel music musician, Andraé Crouch. By the time that he was a teenager, he had formed the McClurkin Singers, and later he formed another group, the New York Restoration Choir. He was hired, as an associate minister, at Marvin Winans' Perfecting Church in Detroit, in 1989. Donnie served as an assistant to Mavin for over a decade.
In 1991, a sharp pain and swelling, followed by internal bleeding led, he says, to his being diagnosed as having leukemia. The doctor suggested immediate treatment, but Donnie, who was then 31, decided to take his own advice.
"I tell people to believe that God will save you," he says, "[and] I had to turn around and practice the very thing that I preached." He was ordained and sent out by the Mavin in 2001 to establish Perfecting Faith Church in Freeport, New York, where he is now Senior Pastor. A friendship with a Warner Alliance executive resulted in his signing to the label for his 1996 self-titled LP, with producers Bill Maxwell, Mark Kibble of Cedric and Victor Caldwell plus Andraé Crouch. The disc, which featured the perennially popular "Stand," went gold shortly after being publicly lauded by Oprah Winfrey. At the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, he won in the category Traditional Soul Gospel Album, for "Psalms, Hymns & Spiritual Songs" Donnie is best known for his hit songs “Stand” and “We Fall Down” which were played in heavy rotation on both Gospel and Urban radio. His three solo albums have topped the Billboard charts. Dovetailing off the success of his near double-platinum selling album,"Live in London and More" Donnie released "Psalms,Hymns and Spiritual Songs" in 2005 and “We All Are One: Live In Detroit” in 2009 which also topped Billboard charts across various musical genres. Donnie's love for people and desire to share gospel music,globally, is why he includes a language medley:Japanese, Russian, Spanish, and Dutch in most live performances.
Watch Donnie McClurkin's 'I am' Video here free.
“Just a couple weeks ago, I had to have vocal surgery and they found that the scar tissue was cancerous,” said the singer, according to EEW Magazine.
Sounding weak-voiced and raspy, the “Stand” singer shared the shocking news during a promotional stop at Bishop TD Jakes’ 30,000-member mega church alongside Fred Hammond.
The veteran gospel singers kick off their 31-city “Festival of Praise” tour beginning September 17 in Houston.
This is not the first time Donnie has sustained injury to his vocal chords. In 2013, he shared a troubling medical report with the public after a cyst on his left vocal chord ruptured, leaving his voice strained and sounding hoarse.
See a few more pics of the Amazing Donnie McClurkin:
No comments:
Post a Comment