Karen Clark-Sheard (born Karen Valencia Clark; November 15, 1960) is an American gospel four-time Grammy Award winning singer, musician, and songwriter. The youngest daughter of pioneering gospel choral director Mattie Moss Clark, Sheard began her career as a member of the Grammy-Award winning, gospel legendary female group, The Clark Sisters. She is the mother of contemporary gospel singer and actress Kierra "Kiki" Sheard.
During
the hiatus of the Clark Sisters, Sheard rose to fame after she recorded her
critically acclaimed and much anticipated solo album Finally
Karen,
which spawned her hit, "Balm in Gilead" (a re-recording of a song she
originally recorded as part of The Clark Sisters back in the 1980s for
their Heart & Soul album) the R&B-flavored "Just
For Me" and "Nothing Without You" - a contemporary duet with
R&B diva Faith Evans. Finally Karen became one of the
most successful gospel albums of 1998 earning Sheard a Grammy nomination and
earning her a Soul Train Lady of Soul Award for "Best Female
Vocalist".
Her
testimony inspired the title name for her long-awaited sophomore project, Second
Chance released in 2002, featuring a "Secret Place" - which
is now considered a classic amongst fans. Sheard recorded two more live albums,
including The Heavens Are Telling and It's Not
Over (which
featured some studio recordings), before releasing All in
One,
Sheard's first all-studio-recorded album in 13 years. The album debuted at #3
on the U.S. Billboard Gospel Chart and #98 on Billboard's Top 200
albums chart,
while its first single "Prayed Up" has so far peaked at #10 on the
U.S. Billboard Gospel Songs chart.
Sheard
released her latest single "Sunday A.M" in 2014, which is nominated
for the Best Gospel Song in the 57th Annual Grammys.
Lady Karen Clark Sheard is a woman of many accolades, and
her heart is deeply invested in ministering the Word of God.