Kierra Sheard & Pastor Mike Jr. Top Gospel Airplay Chart With ‘Miracles’
Written by djfrosty on July 19, 2023
Kierra Sheard’s “Miracles” featuring Pastor Mike Jr. rises to No. 1 on Billboard’s Gospel Airplay chart (dated July 22). In the July 7-13 tracking week, the song increased by 16% in plays, according to Luminate.
“Miracles” marks the fifth Gospel Airplay No. 1 for both Sheard and Pastor Mike Jr. (real name Mike McClure Jr.).
Sheard wrote the song with her brother J. Drew Sheard II and Marcus Johnson. It’s the first single from her LP due later this year. Its content relates to a series of miscarriages that Sheard endured. She is currently pregnant, expecting her first child with husband Jordan Kelly.
“I’m a walking miracle, and I’m sure we all have some kind of miraculous story of God moving in our lives,” Sheard tells Billboard. “It’s only right for these lyrics to be our anthem and I’m grateful that so many are listening.”
“Miracles is more than a song,” adds Pastor Mike Jr. “Kierra and I really wanted to inject the world with hope, and we’re seeing so many lives changed with this positive message.”
With “Miracles,” Pastor Mike Jr. adds his record-extending fifth consecutive career-opening No. 1 on Gospel Airplay. It follows “Impossible” featuring James Fortune (a two-week leader in April); “Amazing,” (two weeks, May 2022); “I Got It” (four weeks, beginning in March 2021); and “Big Rock City” (10 weeks, beginning in February 2020).
Pastor Mike Jr. also ties for the longest streak of Gospel Airplay No. 1s overall, regardless of career-launching runs, with Todd Dulaney and Jonathan McReynolds. All three acts’ streaks are active, with Dulaney currently charting a potential sixth leader in a row, as “It’s Working,” with Bishop Hezekiah Walker, climbs 22-21 for a new high.
Sheard, the daughter of Karen Clark Sheard of The Clark Sisters, tops Gospel Airplay for the first time since “Something Has To Break,” featuring her mother, led for two weeks in October 2021.
Before that, Kierra Sheard’s solo song “It Keeps Happening” dominated for a week in September 2020. In April 2017, GEI’s “Hang On,” on which she’s featured, dominated for a week, after Mary Mary’s “God in Me,” featuring Sheard, ruled for seven weeks beginning in August 2009.
Sheard has an additional song on the latest Gospel Airplay survey, as “God Is Good,” with her mother, Stanley Brown and Hezekiah Walker, ranks at No. 27 (up 2% in plays).