Virtue (musical group)

American gospel music group

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Virtue

Origin| New Orleans, Louisiana
United States
Genres| Urban Gospel, Contemporary Christian, Inspirational/Worship
Years active| 1997 – Present
Labels| Verity Records (1997–2005)
Darkchild Gospel (2006–2007)
Mixed Bag Entertainment (2014 – Present)
Members| Ebony Holland
Heather Martin
Karima Kibble
Past members| Negelle Sumter (1995-2001)
Shavonne Sampson (1995–1999)

Virtue is an American gospel music group. The group currently consists of Ebony Holland, Karima Kibble and Heather Martin.

## History

[edit]

Virtue was formed in 1994 by Karima Trotter (Kibble), Ebony Trotter (Holland), Negelle Sumter, and Shavonne Sampson. All four women attended the historically Black Seventh-day Adventist institution, Oakwood University (then Oakwood College).

Their self-titled debut album, Virtue, was released on April 29, 1997 by Verity Records. The album peaked at number 18 on Billboard's Christian Albums, and number 6 on Billboard's Top Gospel Albums.

Virtue released several other albums throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, including Get Ready (1999), Virtuosity (2001), Free (2003), and Testimony (2006).

After Testimony, no new content was released by the group for over 9 years. On the 26th of February 2016, the group released the album Fearless, their 7th studio album, which charted at number 3 on Billboard's Top Gospel Albums, their highest charting album to date.

## Discography

[edit]

### Studio albums

[edit]

Title  | Album details  | Chart positions

|
|

Gospel
[1] | US
Christ.
[2] | US
Heat.
[3]
Virtue |

* Released: April 29, 1997
* Label: Jive (#CHIP 188), Verity (#43020)[4]

| 6  | 18  | —
Get Ready |

* Released: May 18, 1999
* Label: Verity (#43122)[5]

| 4  | 10  | 22
Virtuosity |

* Released: September 11, 2001
* Label: Verity (#43170)[6]

| 4  | 23  | 33
Free |

* Released: August 19, 2003
* Label: Verity (#53729)[7]

| 10  | 34  | --
Testimony |

* Released: June 20, 2006
* Label: Darkchild Gospel, Integrity Gospel (#682184)[8]

| 23  | -- | --
Fearless |

* Released: February 26, 2016
* Label: eOne, Virtue Girls (#115)[9]

| 3  | -- | --

### Re-issued albums

[edit]

Title  | Album details  | Chart positions

|
|

Gospel
[1] | US
Christ.
[2] | US
Heat.
[3]
Testimony Reloaded |

* Released: February 3, 2015
* Label: Mixed Bag Entertainment (#MGB-CD-14)[10]

| 21  | -- | --

### Compilation albums

[edit]

Title  | Album details  | Chart positions

|
|

Gospel
[1] | US
Christ.
[2] | US
Heat.
[3]
Nothing But the Hits |

* Released: July 27, 2004
* Label: Sony Music (#771634), Verity (#82876599982)[11]

| -- | -- | --

### Singles

[edit]

#### As a lead artist

[edit]

Title  | Year  | Peak chart positions  | Album

|
|
|

Gospel
[12] | US
Gospel
Airplay
[13]
"Greatest Part Of Me"  | 1997  | —  | —  | Virtue
"Let the Redeemed"  | —  | —
"I Must Tell Jesus"  | —  | —
"My Heart's With You"  | 1999  | —  | —  | Get Ready
"Get Ready"  | —  | —
"Love Me Like You Do"  | —  | —
"Angels Watching Over Me"  | —  | —
"Put Your War Clothes On"  | —  | —
"He's Been Good"  | 2001  | —  | —  | Virtuosity
"Till You Believe"  | —  | —
"Gotta Worship"  | —  | —
"Down on My Knees"  | —  | —
"Healin'"  | 2003  | —  | —  | Free
"Lord. I Lift My Hands"  | —  | —
"You Just Be You"  | —  | —
"Follow Me"  | 2006  | 4  | 4  | Testimony
"You Are"  | 2014  | —  | 17  | Testimony Reloaded and Fearless
"Walk it Out"  | 2015  | —  | —  | Fearless
"Miracle"  | 2016  | —  | 23
"—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart.

### Other appearances

[edit]

Virtue performed on the Sisters in the Spirit tour with Shirley Caesar, Yolanda Adams and Mary Mary.[14] They also performed on the Evolution II Tour 2003 with Byron Cage, Percy Bady Tonex, Lisa McClendon, and Corey Red & Precise.[15]

They appeared on the album Bridges: Songs of Unity and Purpose in a duet with Clay Crosse and sang background for Darwin Hobbs on the song So Amazing from his album Vertical.

List of album appearances, showing year released and album name  Title
(Artist) | Year  | Album

|
|

"The First Noel"[16]
(Virtue) | 1998  | The Real Meaning of Christmas, Vol. 2
"Together"[17]
(Clay Crosse & Virtue) | 1999  | Bridges - Songs of Unity and Purpose
"Can You Hear the Angels?"[18]
(Virtue) | The Real Meaning of Christmas, Vol. 3
"So Amazing"[19]
(Darwin Hobbs featuring Virtue)[20] | 2000  | Vertical
"So Amazing"[21]
(Oakwood University USM Compilation featuring Virtue) | 2008  | The Experience

## Music videos

[edit]

* "Greatest Part of Me"
* "Follow Me"

## Award history

[edit]

Year | Award-giving body | Award Category | Song /Album Title

|
|
|

2003 | Dove Awards | Urban Album of the Year | Free
2006 | Grammy Awards | Nominated for Gospel Album of the Year | Testimony

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Studio albums
* For Virtue: "POPULAR UPRISINGS". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 17\. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. April 24, 1999. p. 17\. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
* For Get Ready: "Top Gospel Albums Chart". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. June 12, 1999. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2021 - via Billboard.com.
* For Virtuosity: "Top Gospel Albums Chart". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 27, 2001. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2021 - via Billboard.com.
* For Free: "Top Gospel Albums Chart". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 6, 2003. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2021 - via Billboard.com.
* For Testimony: "Top Gospel Albums Chart". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. July 15, 2006. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2021 - via Billboard.com.
* For Fearless: "Top Gospel Albums Chart". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. March 19, 2016. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2021 - via Billboard.com.
Re-issued albums
* For Testimony Reloaded: "Top Gospel Albums Chart". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. May 9, 2015. Archived from the original on October 4, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2021 - via Billboard.com.
2. ^ a b c "Virtue | Billboard Top Christian Albums". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 27, 2001. Archived from the original on March 27, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2021 - via Billboard.com.
3. ^ a b c
* For Get Ready: "Billboard's Heatseekers Albums Chart". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 24\. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. June 12, 1999. p. 16\. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
* For Virtuosity: "Billboard Heatseekers". Billboard. Vol. 113, no. 43\. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 27, 2001. p. 85\. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
4. ^ "Virtue - Virtue | Releases | Allmusic". Allmusic. Netaktion LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
5. ^ "Get Ready - Virtue | Releases | Allmusic". Allmusic. Netaktion LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
6. ^ "Virtuosity! - Virtue | Releases | Allmusic". Allmusic. Netaktion LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
7. ^ "Free - Virtue | Releases | Allmusic". Allmusic. Netaktion LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
8. ^ "Testimony - Virtue | Releases | Allmusic". Allmusic. Netaktion LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
9. ^ "Fearless - Virtue | Releases | Allmusic". Allmusic. Netaktion LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
10. ^ "Testimony Reloaded - Virtue | Releases | Allmusic". Allmusic. Netaktion LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
11. ^ "Nothing But the Hits - Virtue | Releases | Allmusic". Allmusic. Netaktion LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
12. ^
* For "Follow Me": "Hot Gospel Songs". Billboard. December 16, 2006. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2021 - via Billboard.com.
13. ^
* For "Follow Me": "Gospel Airplay". Billboard. December 9, 2006. Retrieved September 6, 2021 - via Billboard.com.
* For "You Are": "Gospel Airplay". Billboard. April 18, 2015. Retrieved September 6, 2021 - via Billboard.com.
* For "Miracle": "Gospel Airplay". Billboard. August 13, 2016. Retrieved September 6, 2021 - via Billboard.com.
14. ^ Collins, Lisa (July 28, 2001). "Artists & Music: In The Spirit". Billboard. Vol. 113, no. 30\. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 30\. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
15. ^ ""Prince of Praise" Headlines Evolution II Tour 2003". Gospelwire.com. Retrieved January 12, 2007.
16. ^ "The Real Meaning of Christmas, Vol. 2 by Various Artists on Apple Music". Apple Music. September 29, 1998. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
17. ^ "Bridges - Songs of Unity and Purpose by Various Artists on Apple Music". Apple Music. September 21, 1999. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
18. ^ Huey, Steve. "The Real Meaning of Christmas, Vol. 3 - Various Artists". Allmusic. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
19. ^ "Vertical by Darwin Hobbs on Apple Music". Apple Music. January 2000. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
20. ^ "The Best of Darwin Hobbs by Darwin Hobbs on Apple Music". Apple Music. January 2007. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
21. ^ "The Experience by Oakwood University USM Compilation on Apple Music". Apple Music. April 4, 2008. Retrieved November 2, 2021.

* Biography Interview
* Virtue at AllMusic

## External links

[edit]

* Cross Rhythms Artist Profile – Virtue
* Richard De La Font Agency, Inc - Artist Booking

* v
* t
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Virtue

Karima Kibble

* Virtue
* Get Ready
* Virtuosity
* Free
* Testimony
* Fearless

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