Four-time GRAMMY Award-winner and multiple Stellar and GMA Dove Award-winner Karen Clark Sheard is a vocalist, songwriter, entrepreneur, wife, and mother. She is also a gospel music legend and part of a musical dynasty. Admired by a wide range of vocalists from various genres, Clark Sheard is renowned throughout the music industry for her signature, one-of-a-kind multi-octave vocal range and ability. Her musical style with the legendary Clark Sisters and as a solo artist has inspired a host of today’s brightest stars including Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Missy Elliott, and Faith Evans.

Clark Sheard is a partner in ministry with her husband, Bishop J. Drew Sheard, Pastor of Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ in Detroit, where she serves as first lady. In 2014, she hosted her inaugural international empowerment summit for women in ministry leadership, “Ladies 1st: A Celebration of All Women” in Virginia Beach, attended by over 1,500 women.

Family has always been central to her success. Trained as a child by her mother, pioneering gospel choir director Dr. Mattie Moss Clark, she now records for Karew Records, a family-owned label she co-founded with her husband in 2009. Her son, producer and musician J. Drew Sheard II, and her daughter, award-winning gospel music sensation Kierra Sheard, also record on the label.

Mattie Moss Clark formed her five daughters into the Clark Sisters when Karen was barely a teenager. Their signature song “You Brought the Sunshine” became a smash hit in 1983, peaking at #16 on the Billboard Black Singles chart. Over the years, they have recorded 20 albums, including the GRAMMY-nominated Heart and Soul (1987), Conqueror (1988), and Sincerely (1983), crafting enduring gospel anthems such as “Endow Me” and “Is My Living in Vain?”

In 1997, Clark Sheard launched a solo career with Finally Karen, selling nearly half a million copies, winning four Stellar Awards, and earning a GRAMMY nomination. Subsequent albums included 2nd Chance (2002), The Heavens Are Telling (2003), and It’s Not Over (2006).

In 2007, she reunited with her sisters for Live…One Last Time, winning the 2008 GRAMMY Awards for Best Gospel Album and Best Gospel Performance for “Blessed and Highly Favored,” which she wrote and led. The song topped Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs chart for seven weeks and earned her a GRAMMY for Best Gospel Song.

Karew Records’ first release was Clark Sheard’s All in One (2010), followed by The Clark Sisters’ Family Christmas (2010) and Kierra’s fourth album, Free (2011). Clark Sheard co-wrote and recorded extensively on All in One, a family collaboration produced by J. Drew II with contributions from Kierra Sheard, niece Angel Chisholm, and cousin J. Moss. In 2010, she recorded “Wait On The Lord” with Donnie McClurkin, winning her fourth GRAMMY. Clark Sheard’s GRAMMY-nominated hit single, “Sunday AM,” was produced by Donald Lawrence. Her album Destined To Win was released in 2015 through Karew’s partnership with Entertainment One Music. In 2024, she released her latest album, Still Karen.

Clark Sheard continues to produce music and expand Karew Records, and uses her ministry to both feed the faithful and connect with new audiences outside of the gospel music and church community. She travels the country as both a singer and an evangelist, and she plans and leads both church-based and national women’s conferences. Clark Sheard is doing her part to extend the reach of her family’s work and uphold her family’s legendary musical legacy.