Youthful Praise is an American gospel choir led by James "J.J." Hairston who directs the choir and composes most of their material.

Biography

Youthful Praise originated at the Bridgeport, Connecticut church Turner's Faith Temple. The outfit was originally known as Teens of TFT. They released their first album ''Awesome God'' in 2001 with Evidence Gospel, a division of online news magazine GospelFlava.com. The title track became popular with church choirs and helped make their debut album a success. The album earned Youthful Praise two

Stellar Award A Stellar Award is an award presented by SAGMA to recognize achievements in the gospel music industry.Sagma
The Stell ...

nomination in 2003 for Choir of the Year and Contemporary Choir of the Year. The group was also nominated for a Soul Train Award for Gospel Artist of the Year, and the GMWA Excellence Award for Choir of the Year. The group's sophomore release ''Thank You for the Change'' raised their profile even more by featuring a guest vocal performance from

Coko Cheryl Elizabeth Gamble (formerly Clemons; born June 13, 1970), better known by her stage name Coko, is an American singer-songwriter best known as the lead singer of the R&B vocal trio Sisters With Voices (SWV). Aside from her R&B career, Gamble ...

, former lead singer of

SWV SWV (Sisters with Voices) is an American R&B vocal trio from New York City whose members are Cheryl (Coko) Gamble, Tamara (Taj) Johnson, and Leanne (Lelee) Lyons. Formed in 1988 as a gospel group, SWV became one of the most successful R&B g ...

on "Up There" and containing the highlight song "Deliver". YP matured their sound even more on the next release ''Live! The Praise... The Worship'' which delivered the hit singles like "Incredible God, Incredible Praise" and "You Are So Awesome". Youthful Praise continued expanding their borders with television appearances on ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...

'', ''The

Stellar Awards A Stellar Award is an award presented by SAGMA to recognize achievements in the gospel music industry.Sagma
The Stell ...

'', and '' Bobby Jones Gospel''. The ensemble was soon invited to perform with

Joan Osborne Joan Elizabeth Osborne (born July 8, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and interpreter of music, having recorded and performed in various popular American musical genres including rock, pop, soul, R&B, blues, and country. She is best kn ...

, Shirley Caesar, and Destiny's Child. ''Exalted'', an exciting collection recorded live in Baltimore, Maryland was released on both CD/DVD in 2007. The following year saw a recap of their success with the compilation ''The Best of Youthful Praise''. Their most recent album ''Resting On His Promise'' was released September 1, 2009 and features guest appearances from Pastor Shirley Caesar,

Myron Butler Myron Demond Butler (born July 27, 1974) is a gospel musician, record producer, singer-songwriter, music director, vocalist, organist and pianist. Most notably, he is known as the leader of the gospel choir, Myron Butler & Levi. Since 1997, he' ...

, worship leader Steven Hurd, and

Dorinda Clark Cole Dorinda Grace Clark-Cole (born Dorinda Grace Clark; October 19, 1957) is an American Grammy Award-winning gospel singer, songwriter, musician, talk show host, and evangelist. Clark–Cole is best known as a member of family vocal group The Clark ...

. Founding member of Youthful Praise, Pastor Shawn M. Brown died unexpectedly on January 31, 2010. One of the original co-directors of YP, Brown was the songwriter behind the group's first hit "Awesome God". More recently, he formed the group Shawn Brown & Key of David and released an independent album in 2008. YP's album ''After This'' was released in March 2012.

Discography

* ''Awesome God'' (2001) * ''Thank You for the Change'' (2004) * ''Live! The Praise... The Worship'' (2005) * ''Exalted'' (2007) * ''The Best of Youthful Praise'' (2008) * ''Resting on His Promise'' (2009) * ''After This'' (2012) * ''I See Victory'' (2014) * ''You Deserve It (2017) * ''Miracle Worker'' (2019) * ''Not Holding Back'' (2021)

References

External links

* {{Authority control American gospel musical groups Musical groups established in 2001 Musical groups from Bridgeport, Connecticut