The release of Marvin Sapp's third and latest offering, THIRSTY, has garnered several career "firsts" for the singer. At retail, THIRSTY became Sapp's first ever No. 1 debut on Billboard's Gospel chart. Seven weeks later, the CD is still at #1 – making Sapp the only Gospel artist in 2007 to maintain the number one slot for longer than four weeks.
His runaway hit single "Never Would Have Made It" is Sapp's first and only No. 1 single on the Nielsen BDS Gospel chart. In securing the #1 spot, "Never Would Have Made It" 'jumped five positions on the chart – representing the biggest jump to #1 by any single to date on the BDS Gospel chart. It took "Never Would Have Made It" just under 12 weeks after entering R&R's Gospel Top 30 at No. 25 – the highest debut week of May 28th – to make it to #1. No other single since Kirk Franklin's "Looking For You" in November 2005 has successfully attained such a feat.
"When I first heard "Never Would Have Made It" I knew it was a powerful song and it speaks directly to the hearts of all who hear it, which undoubtedly is why it is performing so well," says James "Jazzy" Jordan, SVP/GM of Zomba Gospel. "Marvin Sapp has one of the most recognizable and magnetic voices in Gospel, and has consistently delivered great music. It is exciting to see him experience this level of success at this point of his career and we are looking forward to THIRSTY being at the top of the charts for many more weeks to come. It isn't going away any time soon."
Marvin Sapp's upcoming television appearances include BET's Bobby Jones Gospel and TV One's Gospel of Music With Jeff Majors. Additionally, Sapp will be performing next Friday, August 31, at The New York Call's "Brother-to-Brother Gathering" where Bishop T.D. Jakes will be the guest speaker.
