The Preacher's Wife Soundtrack
Encyclopedia
The Preacher's Wife is the soundtrack to the 1996 film of the same name
and features songs performed by Whitney Houston
, who also stars in the film. It is the best-selling gospel album of all time, and has sold an estimated 6 million copies worldwide.
The lead single, "I Believe in You and Me", became a top five hit in the U.S. and was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
at the 40th Grammy Awards, as well as for Best R&B Album.
"Step by Step
" was another hit single, peaking at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. "My Heart Is Calling" became the soundtrack's final release.
albums chart on the issue dated december 14, 1996, selling 90,500 units in the first week. On its second week, the album jumped to number four on the chart with the Greatest Gainer mark, and the following week reached the number three, which was the album's peak position. The album also debuted at number eight on the Billboard Top R&B Albums
chart, and in three weeks later, peaked at the number one and remained there for two weeks, becoming her fourth number one album on the chart. It stayed for a total of thirty-eight weeks, forty-nine weeks on the Billboard 200 chart and the Top R&B Albums chart respectively. In addition, The Preacher's Wife Soundtrack was more successful on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart than on any other chart. The album debuted straight at number one on the chart and spent twenty-six consecutive weeks at the top from December 14, 1996 to June 7, 1997. Eventually the album became number one gospel album on the 1997 Billboard Top Gospel Albums year-end chart and also "Best-selling Gospel Recording" by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers
(NARM) in 1996-1997. It was certified 3× Platinum for shipping 3 million copies in the United States alone by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) on June 30, 1998. According to the Nielsen SoundScan
, as of 2009, the gospel album has sold 2,471,000 copies in the United States alone.
| style="width:35px; text-align:center;"|1997 || Hans Zimmer
for The Preacher's Wife || Best Original Musical or Comedy Score
||
|-
| style="width:35px; text-align:center;"|1998
|| The Preacher's Wife Original Soundtrack Album || |Favorite Soundtrack
||
|-
| style="width:35px; text-align:center;"|1997 || The Preacher's Wife Original Soundtrack Album || Favorite Female, R&B ||
|-
| style="width:35px; text-align:center;"|1998 || The Preacher's Wife Original Soundtrack Album || Favorite Soundtrack ||
|-
| style="width:35px; text-align:center;"|1997 || Whitney Houston (herself) || The Triumphant Spirit Award ||
|-
| style="width:35px; text-align:center;"|1997 || Special Award || Outstanding Mainstream Contribution to Gospel Music ||
|-
| style="width:35px; text-align:center;"|1998 || "I Go to the Rock" || Traditional Gospel Song of the Year (with Dottie Rambo
) ||
|-
| style="width:35px; text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|1998 || The Preacher's Wife Original Soundtrack Album || |Best R&B Album ||
|-
| "I Believe in You and Me
" || Best Female R&B Vocal Performance ||
|-
| style="width:35px; text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|1997 || rowspan="2"|The Preacher's Wife Original Soundtrack Album || |Outstanding Gospel Artist
(with Georgia Mass Choir
) ||
|-
|Outstanding Album
||
|-
| style="width:35px; text-align:center;"|1997 || The Preacher's Wife Original Soundtrack Album || Best-selling Gospel Recording ||
|-
| style="width:35px; text-align:center;"|1998 || Whitney Houston (herself) || |Favorite Female Musical Performer (tied with Reba McEntire
) ||
|-
| style="width:35px; text-align:center;"|1998 || Special Award || The 1998 Quincy Jones Award
— for Outstanding Career Achievements in the field of entertainment ||
|-
|-
| style="width:35px; text-align:center;"|1998 || Whitney Houston (herself) || The Pinnacle Award ||
|-
The Preacher's Wife
The Preacher's Wife is a 1996 romantic-family-dramedy-christmas film directed by Penny Marshall, and starring Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston, and Loretta Devine. It is a remake of the 1947 film The Bishop's Wife....
and features songs performed by Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
, who also stars in the film. It is the best-selling gospel album of all time, and has sold an estimated 6 million copies worldwide.
The lead single, "I Believe in You and Me", became a top five hit in the U.S. and was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for quality R&B songs...
at the 40th Grammy Awards, as well as for Best R&B Album.
"Step by Step
Step by Step (Annie Lennox song)
"Step by Step" is a song written and originally recorded by singer Annie Lennox, later a cross over pop hit by R&B/pop singer Whitney Houston. The song served as the second single from Houston's 1996 soundtrack album, The Preacher's Wife...
" was another hit single, peaking at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. "My Heart Is Calling" became the soundtrack's final release.
Reception
Commercial performance
Released on November 26, 1996, The Preacher's Wife Original Soundtrack Album debuted at number twelve on the Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
albums chart on the issue dated december 14, 1996, selling 90,500 units in the first week. On its second week, the album jumped to number four on the chart with the Greatest Gainer mark, and the following week reached the number three, which was the album's peak position. The album also debuted at number eight on the Billboard Top R&B Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...
chart, and in three weeks later, peaked at the number one and remained there for two weeks, becoming her fourth number one album on the chart. It stayed for a total of thirty-eight weeks, forty-nine weeks on the Billboard 200 chart and the Top R&B Albums chart respectively. In addition, The Preacher's Wife Soundtrack was more successful on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart than on any other chart. The album debuted straight at number one on the chart and spent twenty-six consecutive weeks at the top from December 14, 1996 to June 7, 1997. Eventually the album became number one gospel album on the 1997 Billboard Top Gospel Albums year-end chart and also "Best-selling Gospel Recording" by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers
National Association of Recording Merchandisers
The National Association of Recording Merchandisers is a United States not-for-profit trade association based in Marlton, New Jersey that serves music retailing businesses in lobbying and trade promotion...
(NARM) in 1996-1997. It was certified 3× Platinum for shipping 3 million copies in the United States alone by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA) on June 30, 1998. According to the Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan is an information and sales tracking system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett. Soundscan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada...
, as of 2009, the gospel album has sold 2,471,000 copies in the United States alone.
Track listing
Chart positions
| Chart(s) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
34 |
| Austrian Albums Chart IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland... |
8 |
| Belgian Albums Chart Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... (Vl) |
34 |
| Belgian Albums Chart(Wa) | 45 |
| Dutch Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
17 |
| French Albums Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
28 |
| German Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
9 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
39 |
| Japanese Albums Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... |
14 |
| Spanish Albums Chart | 21 |
| Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
16 |
| Swiss Albums Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
11 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
3 |
| U.S. Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Gospel Albums | 1 |
Certifications
| Region | Provider | Certification Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales thresholds) |
Sales/shipments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | CRIA Cria A cria is the name for a baby camelid such as a llama, alpaca, vicuña, or guanaco. It comes from the Spanish word cría, meaning "baby". Its false cognate in English, crya , was coined by British sailors who explored Chile in the 18th century and were quick to describe the camelids onomatopoeically... |
Platinum | 100,000+ |
| Europe | IFPI IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland... |
Platinum | 1,000,000+ |
| Spain | AFYVE | Gold | |
| Sweden | IFPI IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland... |
Gold | |
| Switzerland | IFPI IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland... |
Gold | 25,000+ |
| United States | RIAA Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... |
3× Platinum | 2,471,000+/ 3,000,000 |
Singles chart positions
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
US AC |
US Dance |
CAN Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
AUT Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
BEL Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... |
FIN |
FRA |
GER |
IRL Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
NED MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
NZ |
SWE |
SWI |
|||
| FL Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... |
WA Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... |
||||||||||||||||||
| 1996 | "I Believe in You and Me" | 4 | 4 | 2 | ― | 39 | 16 | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | 98 | ― | 74 | ― | 46 | ― |
| 1997 | "Step by Step Step by Step (Annie Lennox song) "Step by Step" is a song written and originally recorded by singer Annie Lennox, later a cross over pop hit by R&B/pop singer Whitney Houston. The song served as the second single from Houston's 1996 soundtrack album, The Preacher's Wife... " |
15 | 29 | ― | 3 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 30 | 8 | 14 | 13 | 46 | 15 | 15 |
| "My Heart Is Calling My Heart Is Calling "My Heart Is Calling" is a song recorded by American recording artist Whitney Houston for the 1996 film The Preacher's Wife. It was released on June 10, 1997 as the third and final single from the accompanying soundtrack. The song was written and produced solely by Babyface... " |
77 | 35 | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||||||||||||
Academy Awards
|-| style="width:35px; text-align:center;"|1997 || Hans Zimmer
Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer is a German film composer and music producer. He has composed music for over 100 films, including critically acclaimed film scores for The Lion King , Crimson Tide , The Thin Red Line , Gladiator , The Dark Knight and Inception .Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the...
for The Preacher's Wife || Best Original Musical or Comedy Score
Academy Award for Best Original Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
||
|-
American Music Awards
|-| style="width:35px; text-align:center;"|1998
American Music Awards of 1998
The 25th Annual American Music Awards were held on January 26, 1998....
|| The Preacher's Wife Original Soundtrack Album || |Favorite Soundtrack
American Music Awards of 1998
The 25th Annual American Music Awards were held on January 26, 1998....
||
|-
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
|-| style="width:35px; text-align:center;"|1997 || The Preacher's Wife Original Soundtrack Album || Favorite Female, R&B ||
|-
| style="width:35px; text-align:center;"|1998 || The Preacher's Wife Original Soundtrack Album || Favorite Soundtrack ||
|-
Essence Awards
|-| style="width:35px; text-align:center;"|1997 || Whitney Houston (herself) || The Triumphant Spirit Award ||
|-
GMA (Gospel Music Association) Dove Awards
|-| style="width:35px; text-align:center;"|1997 || Special Award || Outstanding Mainstream Contribution to Gospel Music ||
|-
| style="width:35px; text-align:center;"|1998 || "I Go to the Rock" || Traditional Gospel Song of the Year (with Dottie Rambo
Dottie Rambo
Dottie Rambo was an American gospel singer and songwriter. She was a Grammy and multiple Dove Award-winning artist. Rambo, along with husband Buck and daughter Reba, formed the award-winning southern Gospel group, The Rambos...
) ||
|-
Grammy Awards
|-| style="width:35px; text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|1998 || The Preacher's Wife Original Soundtrack Album || |Best R&B Album ||
|-
| "I Believe in You and Me
I Believe in You and Me
"I Believe in You and Me" is a ballad written by Sandy Linzer and David Wolfert. The song was first recorded and released by the R&B group The Four Tops in 1983. The song was written by Linzer and Wolfert in 1982, and the Four Tops released it as a single in 1983...
" || Best Female R&B Vocal Performance ||
|-
NAACP Image Awards
|-| style="width:35px; text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|1997 || rowspan="2"|The Preacher's Wife Original Soundtrack Album || |Outstanding Gospel Artist
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Gospel Artist
The NAACP Image Award winners for Outstanding Gospel Artist:...
(with Georgia Mass Choir
Georgia Mass Choir
-Early years:The ensemble, which numbers 150 members, was founded in 1983 by Rev. Milton Biggham, the lead vocalist and songwriter for the group. He put together the group from over 600 applicants, and recorded with them on his label Savoy Records in the middle of the decade...
) ||
|-
|Outstanding Album
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Album
The NAACP Image Award winners for Outstanding Album:...
||
|-
The NARM Best Seller Awards
|-| style="width:35px; text-align:center;"|1997 || The Preacher's Wife Original Soundtrack Album || Best-selling Gospel Recording ||
|-
People's Choice Awards
|-| style="width:35px; text-align:center;"|1998 || Whitney Houston (herself) || |Favorite Female Musical Performer (tied with Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire
Reba Nell McEntire is an American country music artist and actress. She began her career in the music industry as a high school student singing in the Kiowa High School band , on local radio shows with her siblings, and at rodeos. As a solo act, she was invited to perform at a rodeo in Oklahoma...
) ||
|-
Soul Train Music Awards
|-| style="width:35px; text-align:center;"|1998 || Special Award || The 1998 Quincy Jones Award
Soul Train Music Award for Quincy Jones Award for Career Achievement
The Soul Train Music Award winners for Quincy Jones Award for Career Achievement see also, Soul Train Music Award for Heritage Award - Career Achievement...
— for Outstanding Career Achievements in the field of entertainment ||
|-
Trumpet Awards
Trumpet Awards, the awards are intended to honor blacks who, through consistency and longevity, have inspired others and have achieved success in their chosen professions or careers.|-
| style="width:35px; text-align:center;"|1998 || Whitney Houston (herself) || The Pinnacle Award ||
|-