The Tri-City Singers

One of the most popular gospel choirs of the 1990s, <a href="spotify:artist:40tzRHO6w4wROAdb6Sr21l">Donald Lawrence</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:57d6a3ex4tB3hO0WE1hC1V">the Tri-City Singers</a> also managed to make waves with the secular media, similar to a handful of other Christian acts during the decade. Comprised of <a href="spotify:artist:40tzRHO6w4wROAdb6Sr21l">Lawrence</a> plus 34 members -- from the "Tri-Cities" of Spartanburg, South Carolina plus Gastonia and Charlotte, North Carolina -- the choir debuted with the 1993 album A Songwriter's Point of View on the tiny <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22GospoCentric%22">GospoCentric</a> label. The album eventually reached number two on the gospel charts. At the end of the year, <a href="spotify:artist:57d6a3ex4tB3hO0WE1hC1V">the Tri-City Singers</a> had become one of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Billboard%22">Billboard</a>'s Top Ten Gospel Groups, as well as the recipient of several Stellar Awards and a nomination for the NAACP's Image Award. Second album Bible Stories followed in 1995 on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Crystal+Rose%22">Crystal Rose</a>/<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Chordant+Records%22">Chordant Records</a>, and the choir released a holiday LP, Hello Christmas, in 1997. <a href="spotify:artist:40tzRHO6w4wROAdb6Sr21l">Lawrence</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:57d6a3ex4tB3hO0WE1hC1V">the Tri-City Singers</a> signed to EMI Gospel in 2000, releasing the album tri-city4.com that same summer. Go Get Your Life Back followed in 2002. Restoring the Years, a greatest-hits album with two new tracks, appeared in 2003. The next year saw the release of <a href="spotify:artist:40tzRHO6w4wROAdb6Sr21l">Lawrence</a>'s first solo album, I Speak Life. The Tri-City Singers announced the group was calling it quits in the spring of 2006, and recorded one last concert, which was released that same year as two albums, Finalé: Act One and Finalé: Act Two. <a href="spotify:artist:40tzRHO6w4wROAdb6Sr21l">Lawrence</a>'s second solo album, The Law of Confession, Part I, arrived in February of 2009, with a second part rumored on the horizon. <a href="spotify:artist:40tzRHO6w4wROAdb6Sr21l">Lawrence</a>'s next release, however, was titled YRM (Your Righteous Mind), when it appeared in 2011. ~ John Bush, Rovi