Christian Retailing

Carol Channing Goes Gospel Print Email
Written by Staff   
Wednesday, 02 December 2009 03:15 PM America/New_York

One of the more interesting aspects of covering the gospel music business is discovering the occasional household names who release projects in the Christian market. I'm not talking about the time the supplier accidentally shipped a box of Madonna's Ray of Light to my local bookstore but actually projects more intentioned for Christian listeners.

Recently, we've noticed Susan Boyle's new mega-selling project showing up on store shelves and talks of a Marie Osmond disc, but farther back, there were Andy Griffith, Kathie Lee Gifford, Alan Jackson, Billy Ray Cyrus and Brian Littrell of the Backstreet Boys.

At 88 years old, longtime screen and stage legend Carol Channing proves it's never too late for that gospel-album-the-fans-have-always-asked-for, with the release of For Heaven's Sake, which released from Daywind in October. The album contains spirituals from Channing's youth, including "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho," "Old Time Religion" and "Roll Jordan Roll." Channing promoted the CD at the National Quartet Convention this year as well as through events on her familiar Broadway turf.

So who's next?