studies and the popular musical
world. "We had to study
classical and sing arias, which
was fine," Erica told the Times,
"but the teachers would tell us
if we sang anything else it
would damage our instrument".
The sisters toured with the
1995 Michael Matthews
traveling gospel show Mama
I'm Sorry and Sneaky. Each
sister subsequently toured as a
backup singer for a variety of
R&B acts, including Brandy.
A meeting with
producer Warryn Campbell led
to their song publishing deal
with the giant EMI music
conglomerate and a series of
songs that landed on movie
soundtracks. They wrote
"Dance" and performed it
with Robin S. for the
soundtrack to the 1998 film Dr.
Dolittle; they performed "Let
Go, Let God" for The Prince of
Egypt. Several of their songs
were recorded by 702. The
sisters' profile in the gospel
industry was raised when their
songs "Time To Change" and
"Yeah" were recorded
by Yolanda
Adams on Mountain High...
Valley Low. At the same time,
Mary Mary as a musical entity
took shape. They have won
multiple awards, including
three Grammys. On December
23, 2010, Mary Mary along
with Bebe & Cece Winans
featuring the West Angeles
Church of God in Christ
Choir performed on The
Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
From 2007 to 2012, the
Campbells both served as
judges for a gospel music
competition show
on BET called Sunday Best,
along with CeCe and Bebe
Winans.
The duo was subsequently
signed to Columbia
Records/C2 Records and
decided to perform under the
name Mary Mary,
honor ing Mary, the mother of
JOY FEELINGS | DECEMBER ISSUE
51