The Kingdom Choir’s Karen Gibson to be given an MBE for services to music
Karen Gibson, founder and conductor of The Kingdom Choir and worship leader, receives an MBE for services to Music in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Described as ‘Britain’s Godmother of Gospel’ by both the Guardian and the BBC, Karen Gibson is recognised throughout the world as one of the best gospel music directors.
The Kingdom Choir achieved international prominence when invited to perform ‘Stand by Me’ at the Royal Wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (then Prince Harry and Meghan Markle) seen by 1.9 billion people. Since then the choir have performed concerts all over the world including sold out shows at the Hollywood Bowl, Royal Albert Hall and closing ceremony of the Invictus Games in Sydney. They regularly perform on television in the UK, US and Australia.
Karen presented Britain’s Easter and Christmas Stories on BBC One and is currently presenting a series on Scala Radio celebrating the human voice.
The Kingdom Choir’s debut single ‘Stand by Me’ reached Number One in the US Gospel Charts.
Their latest single, ‘Real Love’ was a radio hit this summer in the UK, and was played regularly on Radio 2’s A List.
This year is The Kingdom Choir’s 25th anniversary, but sadly they had to cancel their celebration UK Tour which would have culminated in a homecoming sold out concert in South London at The Royal Festival Hall.
The Kingdom Choir are the first gospel choir to be awarded a BPI Breakthrough Award.
Karen says:
“Gospel music delivers a message of love, hope, joy, faith, courage and unity – and it has been the greatest honour in my life to see people the world over enjoy the inspiration of this genre. Over time, my work taught me that I was not only teaching singing, but that I was also equipping people with tools for life, and so my ambition has always been to continue to do this with great intention.”
Professor Jonathan Shalit OBE, Chairman of InterTalent and Manager of Karen Gibson and The Kingdom Choir says:
‘Working with Karen Gibson has been one of the great honours of my life. Karen embraces in her soul the true meaning of Gospel. Her life is about ‘Good’ and ‘Truth’.
