Biography
The Kingdom Choir, a gospel ensemble from London, rose from modest beginnings to sing at the royal wedding of 2018, which in turn secured a Sony contract and the release of their first album more than two decades after the group first assembled. Founder Karen Gibson, born and raised in Tooting in South London amid its sizable Afro-Caribbean community, was steeped in the Pentecostal church and absorbed gospel alongside jazz and soul from an early age. She began attending services at five, joined the choir soon afterward, took up piano at nine, and later studied oboe; in her late twenties she also spent time as a backing vocalist for the Beautiful South. Gibson formed the Kingdom Choir in 1994 as a casual ensemble with her sister Kimmie and two close friends after losing her IT position, initially staging performances in church halls before moving on to dedicated gospel gatherings that built their reputation and expanded their lineup to twenty voices. The group captured first place in Minstrels in the Gallery, the BBC Radio 2 religious music contest, in 2000. Two years later they earned a nomination for best U.K. choir at the Oasis Gospel Awards and appeared at Buckingham Palace during the Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebrations, later performing for Bill Clinton and Desmond Tutu as well as sharing bills with Elton John and Luther Vandross. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle invited the choir to deliver their take on Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me” at the couple’s 2018 wedding; an estimated global television audience of nearly two billion watched the performance, instantly elevating the singers to celebrity and prompting crowds to surround them as they left the chapel. Record companies quickly reached out, resulting in a Sony deal for the debut album Stand by Me, which paired gospel renditions of pop and soul standards with traditional hymns.
Albums
Singles
