Donnie McClurkin

Donald Andrew McClurkin Jr. (born November 9, 1959) is an American gospel singer and minister. He has won three Grammy Awards, ten Stellar Awards, two BET Awards, two Soul Train Awards, one Dove Award and one NAACP Image Awards. He is one of the top selling gospel artists, selling over 10 million albums worldwide. Variety dubbed McClurkin as a "Reigning King of Urban Gospel". Early life McClurkin was born in Copiague, New York. When he was eight years old, his two-year-old brother was hit and killed by a speeding driver. Soon after the loss, McClurkin experienced family turmoil due to the loss of his brother, and shortly thereafter, he was a victim of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of his great uncle, and years after that by his great uncle's son. Two of his sisters dealt with substance abuse problems, and that's when the young McClurkin found solace in his going to a church; and, also through an aunt of his who sang background vocals with gospel musician Andraé Crouch. By the time that he was a teenager, he had formed the McClurkin Singers, and later he formed another group, the New York Restoration Choir, with recordings from as early as 1975. Ministry He was hired, as an associate minister, at Marvin Winans' Perfecting Church in Detroit, Michigan, in 1989. McClurkin served as an assistant to Winans for over a decade.