''The Preacher's Wife: Original Soundtrack Album'' is the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

to the 1996 film of the same name and features songs performed and produced by American singer

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

, who also stars in the film. The soundtrack was released on November 26, 1996, by

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

and BMG Entertainment. The album has sold 6 million copies as of 2016, and over 10 million to date, making it the best-selling gospel album of all time. The soundtrack and film cemented Houston’s status as a pop culture icon.

Reception

Music critics saw a more emotionally engaged side of Houston, particularly with the soundtrack's gospel offerings. “For the first time in her 12-year recording career, Houston sounds genuinely moved by her material. Early on she stumbles through the Annie Lennox-penned "Step By Step," but the presence of the Georgia Mass Choir on six subsequent tracks melts her frosty reserve,” People magazine wrote.

Commercial performance

Released on November 26, 1996, ''The Preacher's Wife: Original Soundtrack Album'' debuted at number 12 on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart on the issue dated December 14, 1996, selling 90,500 units in the first week. On its second week, the album jumped to number four on the chart with the Greatest Gainer mark, and the following week reached number three which was the album's peak position, with reported sales of 330,000 copies that week, producing the highest first-week sales of a gospel release in history, a record it holds to this day. The album also debuted at number eight on the ''Billboard''

Top R&B Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

chart, and in three weeks later, peaked at the number one and remained there for two weeks, becoming her fourth number one album on the chart. It stayed for a total of 43 weeks and 49 weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and the Top R&B Albums chart respectively. In Europe, the soundtrack became the first and only gospel album in history to sell a million copies in the continent. In addition, the soundtrack was more successful on the ''Billboard'' Top Gospel Albums chart. It debuted at number one, becoming the first album by a female solo artist to do so. It spent 26 consecutive weeks at the top from December 14, 1996, to June 7, 1997. It remained on the chart for 117 weeks during its initial run. It has since returned to the Top Gospel Albums chart for 45 more weeks, bringing its total to 162 cumulative weeks. The album was the number one gospel album on the 1997 ''Billboard'' Top Gospel Albums year-end chart. Prior to the album's release, music industry insiders had expected ''The Preacher's Wife'' soundtrack to "do at least as well as" '' Waiting to Exhale'''s soundtrack, which sold 5,100,000 copies in the United States. The album was the Best-selling Gospel Recording by the

National Association of Recording Merchandisers The Music Business Association (Music Biz), formerly known as the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM), is a not-for-profit trade association based in Nashville, Tennessee. It hosts in-person and virtual events related to music ...

(NARM) in 1996–1997. It was certified 3× Platinum for shipping 3 million copies in the United States alone by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) on June 30, 1998. According to

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate Data, LLC (formerly MRC Data and P-MRC Data) is a provider of music and entertainment data. Established as a joint-venture in 2020, it brought together Nielsen Music, Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and Variety Business Intellige ...

, as of 2012, the album has sold 2,627,000 copies in the United States alone.

Singles

The lead single, " I Believe in You and Me" (originally by

The Four Tops ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

), became a top five hit in the U.S. and was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the

40th Grammy Awards The 40th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1998, at Radio City Music Hall, New York City. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Performers * Will Smith – Men In Black/ Gettin' Jiggy Wit It * R. K ...

, where the soundtrack overall was nominated for Best R&B Album. " Step by Step" was another hit single, peaking at number 15 on the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

chart. "

My Heart Is Calling ''My Heart Is Calling'' is a 1935 British musical film directed by Carmine Gallone and starring Jan Kiepura, Mártha Eggerth and Sonnie Hale. It is the English-language version of the German film ''My Heart Calls You'' and the French film ''Mon ...

" became the soundtrack's final single release.

Promotion and appearances

Pacific Rim Tour

Chart success of the soundtrack and its hit singles, "I Believe in You and Me" and "Step By Step", the singer further promoted the album and singles touring across Asia, Australia, and in North America. Known as the Pacific Rim Tour, Houston played shows in Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Australia and Hawaii. The setlist featured tracks from the album, as well as duet performances of "Count On Me" with singer CeCe Winans and "In Return" at select shows in Japan.

Track listing

All tracks are produced by Houston and

Mervyn Warren Mervyn Edwin Warren (born February 29, 1964) is an American film composer, record producer, Conductor (music), conductor, musical arranger, arranger, lyricist, songwriter, pianist, and vocalist. Warren is a five-time Grammy Award winner and a 1 ...

, except where noted.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Accolades

American Music Awards

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Blockbuster Entertainment Awards

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Essence Awards

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GMA (Gospel Music Association) Dove Awards

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Dottie Rambo Dottie Rambo (March 2, 1934 – May 11, 2008) was an American gospel singer and songwriter. She was a Grammy winning solo artist and multiple Dove Award-winning artist. Along with ex-husband Buck and daughter Reba, she formed the award-winnin ...

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Grammy Awards

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NAACP Image Awards

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Georgia Mass Choir The Georgia Mass Choir is an American Gospel music choir from Macon, Georgia. Early years The ensemble, which numbers 150 members, was founded in 1983 by Rev. Milton Biggham, the lead vocalist and songwriter for the group. He put together the gr ...

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The NARM Best Seller Awards

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People's Choice Awards

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Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire ( ; born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music, country singer and actress. Dubbed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Sin ...

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Soul Train Music Awards

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Trumpet Awards

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References

External links

*
The Preacher's Wife: Soundtrack Album
' at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...