Tamela Mann

Contemporary gospel vocalist Tamela Mann possesses a commanding soprano delivery that defines her performances. She launched her professional path as part of Kirk Franklin’s ensemble, took on acting roles in Tyler Perry productions such as the television portrayal of Cora in Meet the Browns, and simultaneously launched independent recordings. Updating the gospel foundation of her 2005 debut Gotta Keep Movin’ with modern R&B inflections on 2009’s The Master Plan, she achieved her highest Billboard 200 placement at number 14 with the gospel chart-topping Best Days in 2012. Appearances by Franklin, Wyclef Jean, and Todd Dulaney graced her fifth solo project, Overcomer, released in 2021, while the reflective Live, Breathe, Fight followed three years afterward.

Born June 9, 1966, in Fort Worth, Texas, as the youngest of fourteen siblings, Mann grew up immersed in the Church of God in Christ, where her mother frequently served as psalmist. By age twelve she was already performing solos in the congregation’s adult choir, a practice that continued through her high-school choral groups. Her recording career commenced in the 1990s upon joining Kirk Franklin & the Family, where several tracks spotlighted her contributions.

Departing Franklin’s circle, she made her acting debut in David E. Talbert’s gospel musical He Say…She Say…But What Does God Say? Subsequent stage, film, and television work cast her as Cora Simmons across multiple Tyler Perry titles, among them I Can Do Bad All by Myself, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, and Meet the Browns, the last evolving into a series that also featured her husband, David Mann. Amid these commitments she issued her first solo album, Gotta Keep Movin’, in 2005, followed by the concert package The Live Experience in 2007, then incorporated heightened contemporary R&B textures on The Master Plan in 2009. Best Days, released in 2012, entered at number one on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart and reached number 14 on the Billboard 200; its single “Take Me to the King” earned a Grammy nomination for Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance.

Following the second season of the comedy series Mann and Wife, she unveiled her fourth solo outing, One Way, in 2016, another gospel chart leader that secured a Grammy for the track “God Provides.” Between stage appearances and television movies she issued the duets collection Us Against the World: The Love Project with David in 2019, then rejoined Tyler Perry’s world as Cora in the series Assisted Living in 2020. Overcomer arrived mid-2021 with high-profile guests including Franklin and Wyclef Jean. After performing in the 2023 musical film The Color Purple, Mann prepared her sixth studio album; the advance single “Hand on Me” preceded the October 2024 arrival of Live, Breathe, Fight.