Record-Breaking Gospel-Duo, Mary Mary, Take Home Second American Music Award

Record-breaking gospel-duo, Mary Mary, won the award for Favorite Artist in the Contemporary Inspirational category at last night's 2009 American Music Awards in Los Angeles. This is the second American Music Award win for Mary Mary who walked away with the Favorite Inspirational/Christian Contemporary Artist Award in 2005. The American Music Award win helps to close a banner year for Mary Mary who in 2009 have already won a Grammy® Award, a Dove Award, an NAACP Image Award and a BET Award for their latest album, The Sound.

The live broadcast of the 2009 American Music Awards took place at the NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE on Sunday, November 22nd on ABC.

According to Billboard magazine, at #10, Mary Mary's "God In Me" has earned the highest rank for a song that has spent 52 weeks on a chart in the Nielson SoundScan era (since 1992). The former record holder, R. Kelly's "Step In The Name Of Love," was number 11 after a year on the list. Mary Mary is now the only gospel act to have at least two top 10s this decade on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart, "Shackles (Praise You)" peaked at No.9 in 2000. "God In Me" spent seven consecutive weeks at the #1 spot on Billboard's Hot Gospel Songs chart.

"Get Up," the lead single from The Sound, earned the duo 2009's Best Gospel Performance Grammy® and a 2009 Dove Award for Urban Recorded Song of the Year. This is the pair's second Grammy® Award and seventh Dove Award to-date. Mary Mary also took this year's NAACP Image Award for Best Gospel Artist (Traditional or Contemporary) and performed "God In Me," with guest artist Queen Latifah, at the 2009 BET Awards, where the pair was named this year's Best Gospel Artist.

Heralded as "Praiseworthy" by People magazine, The Sound peaked at #1 on a variety of Billboard Christian and Gospel albums charts. It occupied the #1 slot on the Billboard Gospel Album chart for 19 consecutive weeks after its release in October 2008 and spent four weeks at #1 on the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart. The Sound entered the Billboard Top 200 at #7, giving Mary Mary their highest charting -- and second Top 10 -- album on that chart (2005's Mary Mary peaked at #8 on the Top 200). The Sound also achieved one of the highest chart debuts on the Top 200 of any gospel album released in 2008. A bona-fide crossover smash, The Sound made a "Hot Shot" debut on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart at #2.

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SOURCE: Columbia Records

CONTACT: Andre Morris, +1-212-833-5072, +1-212-833-8536 (fax),
andre.morris@sonymusic.com, or Yvette Noel-Schure, +1-212-833-4483,
yvette.noel-schure@sonymusic.com, both of Columbia Records; Shannon Walker,
Integrity Music, +1-251-776-5083, shannonw@integinc.com

Web Site: http://www.columbiarecords.com/