Shirley Murdock Billboard-charting R&B Vocalist
Seasoned R&B/Gospel vocalist, Shirley Murdock, has been on a journey. Since the age of 15, she aimed for a gospel career. In the `80s, Roger Troutman, funk bandleader for the group Zapp snagged Murdock a record deal with Elektra Records where she recorded Top 10 R&B hits such as “As We Lay,” “Go On Without You,” “Husband” and “In Your Eyes.” Then, in 1999, Bishop T. D. Jakes took Murdock under his wing and invited her to sing on his #1 CD, Sacred Love Songs. Since, then, she’s toured in gospel stage plays and recorded gospel hits, like the Stellar and Dove Award nominated “I Love Me Better Than That.” Now, Murdock has realized a lifelong dream of recording her first live CD/DVD entitled, "Live: The Journey" on Tyscot Records. Aside from writing or co-writing all twelve songs, Murdock also made the project distinctive by including duets with her longtime industry pals... Kelly Price, Regina Belle and Beverly Crawford on the soulfully sanctified project. Success came quickly for Murdock with the release of her gold-selling debut LP, Shirley Murdock! ... on Elektra Records. After her initial hit, "No More," stormed the dance charts, the tender ballad "As We Lay" shot up to #5 on the Billboard R&B singles chart and also charted nicely on both the Top 40 adult contemporary and pop charts in 1986. A chance meeting with Bishop T.D. Jakes at a post-service gathering at Murdock’s pastor’s home, led to her recording "The Lady, Her Lover, and Lord," on his Sacred Love Songs, project in 1999. "I told Bishop Jakes that I always wanted to do a gospel CD, so when he launched his record label, Dexterity Sounds, he called me and said, "...here's your chance to do that CD.’" The Home project received a warm embrace from the gospel world and reached #9 on the Billboard Top Gospel albums chart in 2002. It was a dream come true that Murdock feels may have never happened were it not for her secular career. "I never pursued a secular career," she testifies. "It came to me. It opened an opportunity for me to take the gospel into the secular arena in ways that many gospel artists cannot.
