News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Tues. Aug. 1, 2018: Remember that choir which thrilled the world at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with their soulful rendition of “Stand By Me?”
Well they have signed a deal with Sony Records. Nicola Tuer, the COO of Sony Music U.K., told Billboard the label is “absolutely thrilled to have signed Kingdom Choir to Sony.”
The Kingdom Choir was founded by Guyanese-roots conductor, Karen Gibson. Gibson was born in the UK in 1963 and was educated at Walsingham Girls School but her parents were born in Guyana and are part of the Windrush generation.
She founded the award-winning Christian gospel group in the South-East of England. It is made up of a group of artists dedicated to creating a sound that demonstrates the community they share and has been performing both nationally and internationally for over 20 years.
Over this time, the choir has become known for its united sound, warm energy and enthusiastic performance.
“Along with the rest of the world, we were stunned by their incredible performance at the Royal Wedding, so we jumped at the chance to sign them,” Sony’s Tuer was quoted as saying.
Sony has already given the choir a November 2 release date even as the choir propelled the 1961 classic “Stand By Me” to No.1 on Billboard’s Hot Gospel Song chart.
Gibson says she is thankful for the group’s collective success and looks forward to reaching new heights with Sony.
“The Kingdom Choir are absolutely delighted with the journey of the past few months!” Gibson told Billboard. “It’s been a roller coaster, but we wouldn’t have it any other way – first, the honor of being able to sing at the Royal Wedding, and then the thrill of being signed to Sony! It’s like an un-dreamt dream – one that you wouldn’t even consider because you never thought it could happen to you.”
