Elbernita "Twinkie" Clark (born November 15, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter, composer, arranger, organist, record producer, and evangelist. Often called the "Mother of Contemporary Gospel Music", she is best known as the chief songwriter and a member of the gospel group the Clark Sisters, who received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024. Clark possesses a 4-octave vocal range, spanning from bass/baritone (G2) to high soprano and whistle register (Bb6), and was named one of NPR's 50 Great Voices.
Renowned for her mastery of the Hammond Organ, she is credited as the originator of the contemporary "COGIC Shout Sound." in gospel music. Clark is frequently referred to as the "Queen of the B3 Hammond Organ", and was inducted into the Hammond Hall of Fame in 2014. Artists such as Beyonce, Whitney Houston, Faith Evans, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Jazmine Sullivan, Kim Burrell, and Clark's sister, Karen Clark Sheard, have cited Clark as a significant influence on their vocal style and have sampled her songs on several different projects of their own.
Biography Early life Born to Mattie Moss Clark and Pastor Elbert Clark in Detroit, Michigan, Clark began her tutelage in music under the direction of her mother, very early in life. From the age of 13, she began touring nationally with her mother, ministering and training choirs in three-part vocal harmony. In 1967, she made her recording debut as a featured vocalist alongside her mother, sister Denise Clark, and Dolores Jones on the Southwest Michigan State Choir of the Church Of God in Christ's "He Will Supply Your Need", from the album A Closer Walk with Thee. Clark later received formal music education at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
The Clark Sisters
Since their formation in 1973, Clark has been the leader, principal songwriter, and producer of the gospel group the Clark Sisters, which includes sisters Jacky Clark Chisholm, Dorinda Clark Cole, and Karen Clark Sheard (sister Denise Clark Bradford departed the group in 1986). The group achieved their biggest success with the mainstream, crossover hit "You Brought the Sunshine (Into My Life)" in 1983, which peaked within the top 20 of Billboard's Gospel and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts and hit a top 30 peak on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. Other hit songs include, "Is My Living in Vain", "Expect Your Miracle" and "Jesus is a Love Song", all written by Clark. Receiving their first Grammy nomination at the 26th Annual Grammy Awards for Sincerely (1982) in the Best Soul Gospel Performance by a Duo or Group category, they received subsequent nominations for their follow-ups, Heart & Soul (1986) and Conqueror (1988), for Best Soul Gospel Performance by a Duo, Group, Choir or Chorus at the 30th and 31st Annual Grammy Awards. In 1990, the group received its first Grammy nomination for a live album when Bringing it Back Home (1989) was nominated for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards. In 2007, the Clark Sisters were awarded three Grammys at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards: Best Gospel Song and Best Gospel Performance for "Blessed & Highly Favored" and Best Traditional Gospel Album for its parent album Live: One Last Time, which topped both the Billboard Gospel Albums and Christian Music Video charts.
In 2016, the group was honored at the Essence festival. In 2020, it was announced that the Clark Sisters would be honored with the James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award at the 35th Annual Stellar Awards. The same year, a Lifetime biographical film, The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel was released, produced by Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige, and Missy Elliott, and became the highest rated original movie release by Lifetime in four years.
Solo career Clark has recorded several solo albums. Her debut studio album, Praise Belongs to God (1979), was ranked at No. 28 by Billboard on the 1981 year-end Spiritual Albums chart and followed shortly by Ye Shall Receive Power (1981). In 1992, she released Comin' Home and The Masterpiece in 1996. Also in 1996, she made her live solo debut in a collaborative album Twinkie Clark-Terrell Presents the Florida A&M University Gospel Choir, which was a top 10 hit on the Billboard Gospel Albums chart, where it was placed by Billboard as the 34th Top Gospel Album of 1996. In 2002, she released Twinkie Clark & Friends...Live in Charlotte which received a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album. In 2004, it was followed by the Asaph Ward-produced Home Once Again: Live in Detroit, which became her highest-charting album on Billboards Gospel Albums chart and also appeared on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. In 2011 and 2013, Clark released With Humility and Live & Unplugged respectively on Larry Clark Gospel, before releasing a collaborative album with Larry Clark (the son of her sister Denise Clark Bradford), The Generations in 2020.
Musical influence Clark has been inspired by different genres of music, including jazz, reggae, classical, funk, and blues, and she lists artists such as Stevie Wonder, Thomas Whitfield, Walter Hawkins, Edwin Hawkins, Andraé Crouch, Charles Nicks, Aretha Franklin, and her mother, Mattie Moss Clark, as musical influences.
Legacy Artists such as Beyoncé, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans and also her sister, Karen Clark-Sheard have cited Clark as a major influence on their singing and vocal style and have also sampled her music in various songs of their own.
Clark is principally credited as the originator of "The C.O.G.I.C. Shout Sound". She is a BMI Gospel Trailblazer honoree and the recipient of multiple Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award. She is the recipient of an honorary doctorate of sacred music from the Christian Bible Institute and Seminary (CBIS).
Discography Studio albums + List of albums, with selected chart positions, sales figures and certifications Title Album details Peak chart positions USGospel For Praise Belongs to God: For all except noted: Praise Belongs to God Released: 1979 Label: Sound of Gospel (#SOG 091) Formats: LP 15Ye Shall Receive Power Released: 1981 Label: Sound of Gospel (#SOG 133) Formats: LP —Comin' Home Released: January 15, 1992 Label: Tyscot Records (#GRA30012D) Formats: CD, cassette, digital download 40The Masterpiece Released: April 1, 1996 Label: Tribute Records, Zomba (#7901139226) Formats: CD, cassette, digital download 19With Humility Released: April 5, 2011 Label: Larry Clark Gospel Formats: CD, digital download 14The Generations(with Larry Clark) Released: February 14, 2020 Label: Larry Clark Gospel Formats: Digital download —Donald Lawrence Presents Power: A Tribute to Twinkie Clark(with Donald Lawrence & Co.) Released: September 15, 2023 Label: Provident Formats: Digital download —
EPs + List of albums, with selected chart positions, sales figures and certifications Title Album details Peak chart positions USGospelMaestra Released: January 20, 2023 Label: Le Chateau Earl Records Formats: Digital download, Streaming —
Live albums + List of albums, with selected chart positions, sales figures and certifications Title Album details Peak chart positions USGospel For all except noted: For Twinkie Clark-Terrell Presents The Florida A&M University Gospel Choir: For Twinkie Clark & Friends...Live in Charlotte: For Home Once Again...Live in Detroit: USR&B/HH For all except noted: For Home Once Again...Live in Detroit: Twinkie Clark-Terrell Presents The Florida A&M University Gospel Choir Released: June 13, 1996 Label: Crystal Rose Records, Star Song Communications (#SSD 0127) Formats: CD, VHS, cassette, digital download 10 —Twinkie Clark & Friends...Live in Charlotte Released: August 20, 2002 Label: Verity Records (#01241-43196-2) Formats: CD, cassette, DVD, digital download 10 —Home Once Again...Live in Detroit Released: August 10, 2004 Label: Verity Records (#82876-62293-2) Formats: CD, digital download 9 66Live & Unplugged Released: August 27, 2013 Label: Larry Clark Gospel Formats: CD, DVD, digital download 16 —
Compilation albums + List of albums, with selected chart positions, sales figures and certifications Title Album details Peak chart positions USGospelPraise Belongs to God / Ye Shall Receive Released: March 8, 2005 Label: Sound of Gospel (#SOG 2CD-3004) Formats: CD, digital download —Praise & Worship Released: June 12, 2006 Label: Verity Records, Legacy Records (#01241-43196-2) Formats: CD, digital download 39 You Brought the Sunshine (The Sound of Gospel Recordings 1976–1981) (with The Clark Sisters) Released: January 31, 2020 Labels: Westbound Records (#CDSEWD 159) Formats: CD, digital download —
Singles as a lead artist + List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name Title Year Peakchartpositions Album USGospel For all except noted: For "In Him There is No Sorrow": "He Lifted Me" 2005 14 Home Once Again...Live in Detroit "When Praises Go Up" 2010 — "God's Got a Blessing" — With Humility "Awesome God"(featuring Larry Clark) — "God Gave Me Favor" 2013 17 Live & Unplugged "Speak Lord"(featuring Karen Clark-Sheard) — "There is a Word"(featuring Larry Clark) 2014 — "In My Spirit"(with Larry Clark) 2020 — The Generations "In Him There Is No Sorrow"(with Donald Lawrence & Co. and Yolanda Adams) 2023 17 Donald Lawrence Presents Power: A Tribute to Twinkie Clark
as a featured artist + List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name Title Year Peakchartpositions Album USGospel "I Gotta Feelin'"(Eric Deon featuring Twinkie Clark) 2013 — "I Thank God for Jesus"(Anthony "Junebug" Turner & the Norfolk State University Voices of Inspiration Gospel Choir featuring Twinkie Clark) 2014 — "Everything's Gonna Be Alright"(The First Cathedral Mass Choir featuring Moses Tyson Jr., Twinkie Clark) 2014 — The First Cathedral Gospel Music Extravaganza, Vol. 1
Album appearances