MARVIN SAPP'S THIRSTY SCORES FIRST #1 DEBUT FOR THE "PREACHER WHO HAPPENS TO SING"
New York, NY – July 11, 2007 – As the anthemic first single "Never Would Have Made It" reverberates around the country THIRSTY – the 7th solo project from Marvin Sapp – has landed at the top of Billboard's Gospel chart while amassing a record-breaking first week of sales for Sapp. The accompanying DVD for the project, recorded live at Grandville, Michigan's Resurrection Life Church, also had an outstanding first week of sales, debuting at #2 on the Christian Soundscan Music Video Chart. "I'm excited about today, even though it is bittersweet," says Sapp – whose testimony around this project involves how God pulled him through the back-to-back loss of three of the most important men in his life – his father, his musical mentor, and his spiritual father. In fact, "Never Would Have Made It" came to be while he was grieving his father's death only one day after burying him; and Sapp's spiritual father had passed away just a couple of days before the recording. "The three individuals who were such a major influence in my life are not here to experience this with me. However, I know they are here in spirit and just like the consumers are being blessed, they are being blessed too," he continues. Sapp is one of Gospel music's greatest and most charismatic singers, with a powerful voice that The Associated Press says "always vibrates like he's wringing every drop of emotion from his spirit." Award winning producers Aaron Lindsey and Myron Butler handled music and vocals respectively for THIRSTY – a career defining project that should be added to any Gospel music fan's collection.