"Shackles (Praise You)" is a song by American

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

singer-songwriter duo Mary Mary from their first album, '' Thankful''. Released February 29, 2000, as the duo's debut single, it is one of the best-selling gospel songs of all time. Stan North of GospelFlava.com deemed it one of the pioneer songs of urban gospel music. "Shackles" became a top-10 hit in several countries, including Australia, Denmark, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom, and charted well in other major music markets. Mary Mary later produced a

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the song.

Critical reception

Like many contemporary gospel songs, "Shackles" was not without its criticism; many cited the song as being too modern and not staying true to its gospel roots. Mary Mary responded by saying, "It's definitely contemporary. It's music that everybody in any style of music can relate to. It's universal, but the lyrics are undeniably Gospel."

Commercial performance

"Shackles (Praise You)" became a top-40 hit in the United States, peaking at number 28 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. The song was also a worldwide hit, reaching number five in the United Kingdom and number 17 in Ireland. Across mainland Europe, the song was a top-10 hit in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Norway. It also charted strongly in France, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland, peaking within the top 20. In Australia, the song reached number two in September 2000 and was the highest-selling song of the year that did not reach the number-one spot, coming in at number 10 on Australia's year-end chart for 2000.

Track listings

United States

CD single # "Shackles (Praise You)" (album version) – 3:18 # "What a Friend" (snippet) – 1:03 # "Be Happy" (snippet) – 1:42 # "Thankful" (snippet) – 1:11 # " Wade in the Water" (snippet) – 1:39 Maxi-CD single # "Shackles (Praise You)" (single version) – 3:18 # "Shackles (Praise You)" ( Maurice's radio mix) – 3:45 # "Shackles (Praise You)" (Maurice's Carnival 2000 mix) – 8:55 # "Shackles (Praise You)" (Maurice's Carnival 2000 mix instrumental) – 8:55 # "Shackles (Praise You)" (Maurice's New Year's Eve dub mix) – 7:15 # "Shackles (Praise You)" (MO-apella) – 2:46 12-inch single :A1. "Shackles (Praise You)" (Maurice's Carnival 2000 mix) – 8:55 :A2. "Shackles (Praise You)" (Maurice's New Year's Eve dub mix) – 7:15 :B1. "Shackles (Praise You)" (Maurice's Carnival 2000 mix instrumental) – 8:55 :B2. "Shackles (Praise You)" (MO-apella) – 2:46 :B3. "Shackles (Praise You)" (single version) – 3:18 Cassette single :A1. "Shackles (Praise You)" (album version) – 3:18 :B1. "What a Friend" (snippet) – 1:03 :B2. "Be Happy" (snippet) – 1:42 :B3. "Thankful" (snippet) – 1:11 :B4. "Wade in the Water" (snippet) – 1:39 :B5. "Shackles (Praise You)" (MO-apella) – 2:46

International

Australian CD single # "Shackles (Praise You)" (album version) – 3:18 # "Shackles (Praise You)" (Maurice's radio mix) – 3:45 # "Shackles (Praise You)" (Maurice's Carnival 2000 mix) – 8:55 # "Shackles (Praise You)" (Maurice's Carnival 2000 mix instrumental) – 8:55 # "Shackles (Praise You)" (Maurice's New Year's Eve dub mix) – 7:15 # "Shackles (Praise You)" (MO-apella) – 2:46 European CD1 # "Shackles (Praise You)" (album version) – 3:18 # "Shackles (Praise You)" (Maurice's radio mix) – 3:45 European CD2 # "Shackles (Praise You)" (album version) – 3:18 # "Shackles (Praise You)" (Maurice's radio mix) – 3:45 # "I Got It" – 3:52 # "Shackles (Praise You)" (Maurice's Carnival 2000 mix) – 8:55 UK CD1 # "Shackles (Praise You)" – 3:18 # "Shackles (Praise You)" (Hil St. Soul mix) – 3:33 # "Shackles (Praise You)" (2K mix by Tariq) – 3:08 # "Shackles (Praise You)" (The Top Notch remix) – 2:50 UK CD2 # "Shackles (Praise You)" – 3:18 # "Shackles (Praise You)" (Maurice's radio mix) – 3:45 # "Shackles (Praise You)" (Maurice's Carnival 2000 mix) – 8:55 UK cassette single # "Shackles (Praise You)" – 3:18 # "Shackles (Praise You)" (Maurice's Carnival 2000 mix) – 8:55

Personnel

* Vocals: Mary Mary * All instruments: Warryn "Baby Dubb" Campbell * Producer: Warryn Campbell * Vocal producer: Mary Mary * Writers: Warryn Campbell, Erica Atkins, Tina Atkins

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Usage in media

The song was featured in the fifth episode of the third season (2024) of American sitcom ''

Abbott Elementary ''Abbott Elementary'' is an American mockumentary sitcom television series created by Quinta Brunson for ABC. It stars Brunson as Janine Teagues, a perpetually optimistic second-grade teacher at the underfunded Abbott Elementary, a fictional p ...

'', performed by Sheryl Lee Ralph .

References

{{Mary Mary 2000 songs 2000 debut singles Columbia Records singles Mary Mary songs Song recordings produced by Warryn Campbell Songs written by Warryn Campbell