More Info on Smokie NorfulSimilar Gospel MusicSearch Artistopia
Biography
BLP sources|date=May 2009Infobox musical artist | name = Smokie Norful| image = Smokie Norful.jpg| caption =| background = solo_singer| birth_name = Willie Ray Norful, Jr.| alias =| birth_date =birth date and age|1975|10|31| death_date =| origin = Pine Bluff, Arkansas Muskogee, Oklahoma | instrument = Vocals , Piano | genre = Gospel Music|Gospel , Worship music|Praise & Worship | occupation = Singing|Vocalist/Singer , Songwriter , Pastor | years_active = 2002–present| label =| associated_acts = Vanessa Bell Armstrong | website = http://www.smokienorful.com/ www.smokienorful.com| notable_instruments = Piano, Vocals Rev. W.R. "Smokie" Norful, Jr. is an American gospel music|gospel singer and pianist, best known for his 2002 album, I Need You Now (album)|I Need You Now and his 2004 release, Nothing Without You, which won a Grammy at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album in 2004. http://www.grammy.com/GRAMMY_Awards/Winners/Results.aspx? title=& winner=& year=2005& genreID=0& hp=1 | Grammy Winners Search
Early life
Norful, a minister who is also the son of an African Methodist Episcopal Church minister, was born in Little Rock, Arkansas but grew up in Pine Bluff, Arkansas , deeply involved in his father's church. He was interested in music from a very young age, reportedly picking out one-finger piano melodies from the age of four. His parents supported him with music lessons, and, unusual for his background, allowed him to experiment with and listen to the current R& B and soul music of the day as well as gospel music . Norful attended Pine Bluff High School, where he occasionally performed in school assemblies and programs. Norful graduated from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff as a History major and spent four years teaching high school at Jack Robey in Pine Bluff,AR . In 1998 he felt a calling to the ministry of the gospel, and pursued a Master of Divinity degree at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois . While working toward ordination in the A.M.E. (African Methodist Episcopal) church, he took a position as assistant pastor at a church in Chicago. He currently pastors Victory Cathedral Worship Center in Romeoville, IL, which he founded on September 20, 2005.
Recording career
He participated in an album release by the Thompson Community Choir, a well-known gospel group, and contributed a song as well as solo vocals. He was then offered the opportunity to make a solo album for EMI Gospel, I Need You Now . The album was a slow starter but eventually went gold, spending two years in the upper reaches of the Billboard magazine|Billboard Gospel Charts.
He was nominated for and won a Grammy in 2005 for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album. He is also signed to EMI-CMG Publishing and his own Norful Music Publishing as a songwriter. He performed on June 6, 2005, for President George W. Bush in a concert honoring Black Music Month.
Norful's music is best described as a fusion of gospel, 70's soul, and contemporary R& B; the influences of Stevie Wonder , Donny Hathaway and other male soul/R& B vocalists of the 70's and 80's are clear.
On October 3, 2006, Norful released his 3rd album, Life Changing .
He is a featured guest artist along with Fred Hammond and J Moss on the ballad 'Cover Me' by the Gospel R& B trio 21:03 . The song appears on Total Attention , the second album of 21:03, which was released July 22, 2008.
Smokie released his first live album on April 7, 2009. It is entitled Smokie Norful Live and features the singles "Justified," " Jesus is Love " featuring Heather Headley , and "God's Gonna Come Through" featuring Tye Tribbett . The Smokie Norful Live DVD was released in September of the same year on his newly formed label Tre'Myles Music. This is a collaborative effort between Tre'Myles Music and EMI Gospel.
Personal life
Norful describes his first single, "I Need You Now"...
"I wrote that at a time when my wife who was told she may have cancer and wouldn't be able to conceive, my father who had just had emergency heart-surgery and my grandmother were all dealing with some serious medical issues, and I was seriously reaching out to God for comfort and guidance and healing. I was crying out to God and realizing my total dependence on Him, and ultimate victory through Him."
Norful and his wife, Carla, are the parents to two boys, Tre' and Ashton, and a daughter named Ashley.
Discography
Albums
I Need You Now (album)|I Need You Now (Chordant Music Group, 2002)
I Need You Now Limited Edition (EMI, 2003)
Nothing Without You (Smokie Norful album)|Nothing Without You (EMI Gospel, 2004)
Nothing Without You Special Edition CD+DVD (EMI, 2005)
Life Changing (EMI Gospel, 2006)
Smokie Norful Live (EMI, 2009)
How I Got Over...Songs That Carried Us (EMI, 2011)
Once in a Lifetime (Smokie Norful album)|Once in a Lifetime (EMI, 2012)
Persondata | NAME =Norful, Smokie | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH =October 31, 1975 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Norful, Smokie Category:American male singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:American gospel singers Category:Musicians from Arkansas Category:People from Pine Bluff, Arkansas Category:Living people Category:Garrett–Evangelical Theological Seminary alumni Category:1975 births
