Donnie McClurkin

Donnie McClurkin (born November 9, 1959, Copiague, New York, U.S.) is an American gospel music singer and pastor who rose to fame in the early 1990s. McClurkin had multiple hit songs in the Christian music genre and is one of the top-selling gospel artists of all time.

Early life and singing debut

McClurkin was raised in Amityville, a small village on Long Island, New York. When McClurkin was eight, his younger brother, Thomas, was killed in a hit-and-run accident. While his parents dealt with the loss, he was sent to live with nearby family and was sexually abused by his great uncle. His home life was tumultuous, marked by domestic violence and various family members dealing with addiction to drugs and alcohol. McClurkin found solace, however, in the Amityville Full Gospel Tabernacle.

When he was nine, during a concert at the Bethel Gospel Tabernacle in Queens, New York, McClurkin’s aunt Bea Carr introduced him to gospel singer Andraé Crouch. Crouch took an interest in McClurkin and became his mentor, encouraging him to pursue music and supporting his interest in biblical scripture. McClurkin joined the youth choir at his church, and he taught himself to play the piano. As a teenager, he formed the McClurkin Singers, consisting of himself, his four older sisters, and a neighbor. He subsequently founded a vocal ensemble known as the New York Restoration Choir, which recorded several albums.

Solo career

In 1987 McClurkin joined the chorus of the Broadway production Don’t Get God Started, which ran for two months at the Longacre Theatre in New York City before going on tour. He then relocated to Detroit to work alongside gospel singer and pastor Marvin Winans. Together, they opened Perfecting Church, with McClurkin as associate minister. In 1996 McClurkin signed with Warner Alliance and released his first solo album, Donnie McClurkin. Well-received songs from the album included “Speak to My Heart,” a revival of a song off the New York Restoration Choir album I See a World, and “Stand.” Sales of the album skyrocketed after McClurkin appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s television show, and in 1998 it received a Grammy Award nomination for best contemporary soul gospel album.

In the late 1990s McClurkin also wrote songs for the animated film The Prince of Egypt (1998), and he began work on his second album, Live in London and More…, which was released in 2000. The album was a massive success for McClurkin, spending 37 weeks at number one on the U.S. Top Gospel Albums Billboard chart and winning the 2002 Soul Train Award for best gospel album. His next album, Again (2003), earned him the 2004 Grammy for best contemporary soul gospel album.

McClurkin was ordained by Winans in 2001, and, returning to New York, he established Perfecting Faith Church in Freeport, where he is the senior pastor. In 2006 he became the host of a weekly radio program titled The Donnie McClurkin Show, which was among the top radio shows in the United States. That same year, he garnered another Grammy nomination for best gospel performance, for his rendition of “I Call You Faithful” (2004). His album Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs (2005) was recognized with the 2006 Soul Train Award for best gospel album. In 2010 McClurkin joined the judging panel for the reality gospel singing competition show Sunday Best on the cable network BET, where he was featured for five seasons, and he won a third Grammy, this time for best gospel performance of his song “Wait on the Lord” (2008).

Controversy

In 2001 McClurkin released his autobiography Eternal Victim, Eternal Victor and several years later starred in a documentary about his life, The Donnie McClurkin Story: From Darkness to Light (2004). In both works, McClurkin shared openly about the abuse of his childhood and his difficulties with homosexuality, which he attributes to childhood trauma and, in particular, early exposure to pornography. He is convinced that his own homosexuality developed out of childhood molestation, and that through choice and prayer he was able to change his orientation to heterosexual. He passes this message to adolescent boys who are discovering their own sexuality.

McClurkin’s position that homosexuality is a choice contradicts research on sexual orientation and thus is highly controversial and has been problematic in his career. In 2013, for instance, owing to his homophobic rhetoric and opposition from gay rights activists, McClurkin was removed from the list of headlining performers at a memorial concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. In 2015 he publicly criticized the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriage, reiterating his belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman. His comments were viewed as discriminatory and drew heavy criticism from advocates of LGBTQ+ rights.