William Henry Murphy III (born August 2, 1973) is an American gospel recording artist and pastor. He started his music career in 2005, with the release of ''All Day'' on Epic Records. This album was listed on the ''Billboard'' Gospel Albums chart. His second album, ''The Sound'', was released in 2007 on Central South, and was listed on the Top Gospel Albums chart as well. He self-released ''We Are One'' in 2011. This album was listed on the Top Gospel Albums chart, along with the Heatseekers Albums chart. His fourth album, ''God Chaser'', was released in 2013 on

Verity Verity (''alias'' Veretie, Verety, Verita, Veritie, etc.) is a female first name and a surname. As a first name it derives from the Latin feminine noun ''veritas'', meaning "truth". It is thus an equivalent of Alethea, a female first name first use ...

. The album reached the Gospel Albums chart, as well as the ''Billboard'' 200. Murphy is pastor of the dReam Center Church of Atlanta, which he founded.

Early life

Murphy was born in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

on August 2, 1973. His father and grandfather are pastors/bishops. He moved to

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

in 2001, with his wife Danielle and two children, to serve as the worship minister at New Birth. He later founded The dReam Center Church of Atlanta in 2006, where

Tasha Cobbs Natasha Tameika Cobbs Leonard (born July 7, 1981) is an American gospel musician and songwriter. She released the extended play ''Grace'' in 2013 with the hit lead single " Break Every Chain". The EP reached No. 61 on the ''Billboard'' charts. ...

was on pastoral staff. His wife, Danielle, is also a pastor at the church. William is the Bishop of Worship in the FGBCF International ministry (Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship) under cofounder Bishop Paul S. Morton.

Music career

Murphy's music career began with the release of ''All Day'' on August 16, 2005 on Epic Records. This peaked at No. 22 on the ''Billboard''

Top Gospel Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

chart. His second album, ''The Sound'', was released by Central South Records on May 1, 2007, peaking at No. 23 on the same chart. His third album, ''We Are One'', was self-released on July 26, 2011, and it peaked at No. 16. It also placed on the Heatseekers Albums at No. 28. His fourth album, ''God Chaser'', was released on February 5, 2013 by Verity Records. It reached No. 90 on the ''Billboard'' 200, and placed at No. 3 on the Gospel Albums chart. Andy Kellman, writing for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

, said that some of the tracks on this album are "potent numbers", while Cross Rhythms rated the album a seven out of ten. ''God Chaser'' was nominated for

Grammy Award for Best Gospel Album The Grammy Award for Best Gospel Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the Gospel music genre. Honors in s ...

at the

56th Annual Grammy Awards The 56th Annual Grammy Awards presentation was held on January 26, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the third time by LL Cool J. The show was moved to January to avoid comp ...

Discography

References

External links

Official website

The Preaching App biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, William 1973 births Living people African-American songwriters African-American Christians Musicians from Atlanta Musicians from Detroit Songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state) Songwriters from Michigan Epic Records artists 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people