Erica Monique Campbell (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'', Atkins; born April 29, 1972) is an American Gospel singer and songwriter. Specializing in the urban contemporary gospel, Christian R&B, and contemporary R&B genres, she started her music career in the late 1990s with her younger sister,

Tina Campbell Tina Campbell (born 1971)"New job, new baby"
Belfa ...

, as part of the group

Mary Mary Mary Mary is a female American urban contemporary gospel duo composed of sisters Erica Atkins-Campbell (born April 29, 1972) and Trecina Atkins-Campbell (born May 1, 1974). Formed in 1998, Mary Mary was launched into mainstream recognition fo ...

. Her debut solo album ''

Help Help is a word meaning to give aid or signal distress. Help may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Help'' (2010 film), a Bollywood horror film * ''Help'' (2021 theatrical film), a British psychological thriller film * '' ...

'' (2014), reached the top ten on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, and won the Grammy Award for Best Gospel Album at the

57th Grammy Awards The 57th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 8, 2015, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The show was broadcast live by CBS at 5:00 p.m. PST ( UTC−8). Rapper LL Cool J hosted the show for the fourth consecutive time. ...

. In 2015, she released her follow up album ''

Help 2.0 ''Help 2.0'' was released on March 31, 2015. A follow-up to her 2014 solo debut album, ''Help'', the release marks the second solo studio album apart from her duo of Mary Mary, which was produced by her husband Warryn Campbell and released under ...

''. The album included the gospel trap single "

I Luh God "I Luh God" is a song by American gospel singer Erica Campbell of Mary Mary. The song also features American gospel rapper LaShawn Daniels, who produced the song, also known as Big Shizz, who is uncredited. It is her second single from her album ...

", which reached number one on the gospel chart. She released her third album ''I Love You'' in 2023. In addition to her music career, Campbell appeared in the 1993 film '' Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit''. She also made an appearance in the film '' The Fighting Temptations'' (2003). Since May 2016, she has been the host of ''Get Up! Mornings with Erica Campbell'' with comedian Griff, currently distributed by Reach Media, the syndication arm of Urban One.

Early life

Campbell was born Erica Monique Atkins, on April 29, 1972, in

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,762. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. The city is in the South Bay ...

, the daughter of Eddie Aaron Atkins Jr. (1948–2013), originally from Merced, California, a pastor and minister, and Thomasina Andrea "Honey" Atkins (''née'' Daniels), who is originally from

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

. Her paternal grandparents are Eddie Aaron Atkins, Sr. and Lavada Cruthird, and her maternal grandparents are Tommy and Ruth Daniels. She had two older brothers, Andre Lavelle Atkins, who died at six years old from a combination of Down Syndrome, spinal meningitis, and a hole in his heart, while her other brother is living in Arizona, Darrell Antoine Atkins. She has one older sister, Maliea Dionne Atkins, and five younger sisters, Trecina Evette "Tina" Atkins, Delisa Marie "Lisa" or "Wittle Wees" Atkins, Thomasina Andrea "Goo Goo" Atkins, Alana Ellesse "Lainz" or "Luv Luv" Atkins, and Shanta Nena Lavea Atkins.

Music career

Her music career started in 1998, with her younger sister,

Tina Campbell Tina Campbell (born 1971)"New job, new baby"
Belfa ...

, who formed half of the

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...

duo,

. As part of

, Campbell earned numerous Stellar Music and Dove Awards, four Grammy Awards, three

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

s, two American Music Awards, a

Soul Train Award The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards show which previously aired in national broadcast syndication, and honors the best in African-American culture, music and entertainment. It is produced by the makers of '' Soul Train'', the ...

and a BET Award. In 2008, Campbell recorded a solo track called "Stand" for the soundtrack to the independent film ''A Good Man Is Hard to Find''. In 2011, Mary Mary received the

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

Golden Note Award for their extraordinary songwriting. Erica commenced her solo music recording career in 2013, by recording her first

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''

'', that released on March 25, 2014, with

Entertainment One Music MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch", formerly known as Koch Records and eOne Music) is a New York City-based independent record label and music management company. It was formed in 2009 from the music assets of Koch Entertainment, which had b ...

. This album was her breakthrough release upon the ''Billboard'' magazine charts, while it charted on The ''Billboard'' 200, Top Gospel Albums, and

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' maga ...

charts, where it peaked at Nos. 6, 1, and 2, correspondingly. Campbell won a Grammy Award for Best Gospel Album at the 57th edition of the event. The subsequent studio album, ''

'', was released on March 31, 2015, from Entertainment One Music. This album charted on the same charts, but at Nos. 120, 1, and 12, respectively. In early April 2018, Erica and her husband Warryn Campbell are to star in their own reality show on TV One. The show will highlight Erica going back in the studio to record her new album. Also in 2018, Erica and her husband released a music video titled, "All of My Life". On September 23, 2022, Erica released “Positive”, on January 13, 2023 she released “Feel Alright (Blessed)”, on August 10, 2023 she released “Sho Been Good”, and on August 24, 2023 she released “Trust And Obey” for her upcoming album “''

I Love You I Love You, I Love U, or I Luv U may refer to: Film and television Films * ''I Love You'' (1918 film), a silent drama written by Catherine Carr * ''I Love You'' (1925 film), a German silent drama film * ''I Love You'' (1938 film) a German ...

''”, which was released September 15, 202

Personal life

She is married to Warryn Campbell, with whom she resides in Los Angeles, together with their three children. Campbell is an honorary member of

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen stud ...

; she was initiated on January 15, 2023.Erica Campbell, Patti Labelle Among New Honorary Members of Alpha Kappa Alpha
/ref>

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links

Official Facebook profileOfficial morning show website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Erica 1972 births Living people Mary Mary 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century African-American women singers 21st-century American women singers African-American Christians African-American radio personalities African-American women singer-songwriters American women singer-songwriters American gospel singers Grammy Award winners MNRK Music Group artists Musicians from Inglewood, California Singer-songwriters from California