Doug Williams

Hailing from Mississippi, Doug Williams has pursued a multifaceted career as a gospel performer, composer, and record producer within a family whose Billboard chart presence stretches back many years. His professional singing began in childhood during the final years of the 1950s as part of the ensemble that became the Williams Brothers, an act formally assembled in 1960 with Doug, his brothers Leonard and Melvin Williams, and their cousin Henry Green. Over time the group incorporated additional members, issued more than 40 albums, and earned induction into the International Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Williams achieved both critical and commercial recognition as a solo artist starting with his debut release in 1995. Issued on the family’s Blackberry Records imprint, Heartsongs earned a nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album at the Grammys the following year and reached the Top 20 of the Billboard Gospel Albums chart. He maintained a parallel role as producer for projects by gospel acts such as Mighty Clouds of Joy, Jackson Southernaires, and Willie Norwood. In 1997 he issued the album Duets alongside brother Melvin, followed in 1999 by the second solo set When Mercy Found Me; both titles appeared on the U.S. gospel chart. Duets II arrived in 2004, and the live recording simply titled Live was released in 2009. Throughout this period Williams remained active behind the scenes, supplying songs, production, and performances to other gospel releases while overseeing the family’s record label. The passionate ballad “All of Me” surfaced in late 2015 from the album Crossover, slated for mid-2016.