Kim Burrell Speaks of Her First Album Without Her Mom and Whitney Houston

Gospel music veteran Kim Burrell has just released her new album entitled 'A Different Place.'  "I'm just over the top about it," Burrell exclaimed. "I'm getting so bright eyed and bushy tailed because i'm so grateful. 29 years I've been doing this professionally."

"Loyal fans are going to have their eyes bucked and their mouths dropped. Because she's really singing from a different place," she says."These are songs that people said 'The song you sang tonight, do you have that outside?' and I've had to say no for so many years. And now I can say yes, it's on a record."

"This is my first recording in life that I had to do without my mom and Whitney."

She and music icon Whitney Houston were long-time friends. She often recounts times Houston called her for prayer. And Burrell's mother passed from cancer.

"I've always practiced 'I'll keep my pain in because I don't need to impose that on the consumer, the listener. They want to hear Kim the artist.' But Kim the person did this album."

Burrell is preparing to go on a 51-city world tour at the end of the month with another Houston-based artist, Israel Houghton, and gospel legends Donnie McClurkin, Fred Hammond, and Hezekiah Walker. 

Though Burrell battled double pneumonia for eight years as a child, she performed her first solo with the church choir at the age of only one year old singing Andraé Crouch's "Hallelujah Praise." She is the daughter of a pastor in the Church of God in Christ (COGIC). Burrell began her gospel career proper performing with Reverend James Cleveland's GMWA Youth Mass Choir (also known as Rev. James Cleveland's Kids), Trinity Temple Full Gospel Mass Choir of Dallas and The Inspirational Sounds Mass Choir of Houston.

In 1996, she appeared on Ricky Dillard & New G's "Worked It Out" album, as the feature on the reprise of "Jesus Paid It All," which is credited as the turning point of her national career.

Her first independent album, Try Me Again, was released on the Texas-based boutique label Pearl Records in 1995. Though limited distribution kept the album from nationwide recognition, it did build a strong reputation that led to her being signed to Tommy Boy Gospel and the now-classic Everlasting Life, produced by Asaph Alexander Ward. The album performed well and peaked at #12 on the Billboard Gospel Charts.

Quickly becoming known as a virtuoso vocalist and pianist, it seemed only logical to produce a live album, which Burrell recorded in November 2000 at the annual COGIC Convention in Memphis, Tennessee. Though the recording of the concert was widely said to be troubled, requiring notably some overdubs and post-production, the resulting Live In Concert album released in 2001 satisfied eager fans and earned Burrell a Grammy nomination for Best Soul Gospel Album in 2002.

Though her then-label Tommy Boy Gospel closed shortly after the release of Live In Concert, by 2002, she had already signed a recording contract with Elektra Records who had newly considerable success in the gospel market with signing Yolanda Adams and Karen Clark Sheard. Unfortunately, this contract yielded only a guest appearance on the all-star gospel track Missy Elliott-produced "Higher Ground" which first appeared as a bonus track on Missy's album Miss E... So Addictive, but was later featured on Karen Clark Sheard's 2nd Chance album.

Since that time, Burrell has become a wife and mother to a son by the name of Christian. She has continued to perform live and to collaborate with other artists. Though only intermittently active as a recording artist, Burrell has established and hosts the Ephesians 4 conference annually to show up-and-coming singers, dancers and other artists how to improve the quality of their craft.

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