The 5 most successful gospel artists of 2019 

The American entertainment media brand Billboard is known for its magazine and its weekly music charts in various genres, but the popular platform also releases year-end charts of a given year’s most popular artists, albums and songs.

The year-end charts are cumulative measures of how a singer, for instance, has been performing on its weekly charts throughout the year.

The Billboard charts account for the online and physical sales, radio play and online streaming of songs released in the United States.

Let us take a look at who was dominating the gospel music scene in 2019.

1) Kanye West

The most successful gospel artist last year was Kanye West, who is still quite new in the genre. Less than a year ago, the rapper released his first Christian album titled “Jesus is King,” which topped the charts in the US.

Just a few weeks ago, he announced that a second faith-based album is on its way. The album will get the name “God’s Country,” and the first song from it, “Wash Us in the Blood,” has already been released.

2) Kirk Franklin

Number two on the list is gospel veteran Kirk Franklin. In May 2019, he released his twelfth studio album called “Long Live Love,” off of which three singles came.

The album peaked at number 20 on the US Billboard 200 chart and reached number 1 on Billboard’s US Top Gospel Albums chart. “Long Live Love” generally got good reviews and was, for instance, called an album that “exposes us to all sub-genres of gospel music from old school choir to soul-massaging ballads.”

3) Tasha Cobbs Leonard

Third on the list is Tasha Cobbs Leonard, who released two live albums that have given her a spot on the year-end chart.

“Heart. Passion. Pursuit.: Live at Passion City Church” was released in November 2018, and “Smile (Live) came a year later.

The popular gospel singer also released two singles in 2019 that have yet to be released on an album; “This Is A Move,” which peaked at number 4 on the US Gospel Chart, and “O Holy Night.”

4) Koryn Hawthorne

22-year-old Koryn Hawthorne has also made her way to the chart. She released her first album, “Unstoppable,” in 2018 and the singles “Unstoppable” and “Enough” in 2019

Her debut album reached number 1 on Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart, and her singles also performed well.

Furthermore, the young gospel singer won three awards last year, including Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year at the GMA Dove Awards.

5) Tamela Mann

Tamela Mann’s latest album was released in 2018 and is a duet project with her husband, David Mann. The album is called “Us Against the World: The Love Project.”

Last year, Billboard named her 2012 album, “Best Days,” the Gospel Album of the Decade. Following its release, the album peaked at number 1 on Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart and number 14 on the US Billboard 200 chart.