The leader of Anthony Brown & group therAPy, the R.I.A.A. certified gold-selling Maryland-based gospel act with numerous Billboard Magazine No. 1 chart hits and over 300 million digital streams, has overcome many hurdles on his journey to the top of the gospel music field. Despite his past obstacles, Brown is now celebrating the third GRAMMY® Award nomination of his two-decade career. The fresh nod is for his spiritual ode to the global pandemic, “Help,” from his 2020 digital EP, “Stuck in the House: The Pandemic Project” (Key of A / Tyscot / Fairtrade Services). The group’s soul-stirring ballad will challenge tracks by Cece Winans, Maverick City Music, Elevation Worship, and Dante Bowe in the category of Best Gospel Performance/ Song. The GRAMMY® Awards will air on CBS television on Monday, January 31, 2022.
The son of a Baltimore area preacher, Brown grew up loving music and the church. However, he had a stutter. He was self-conscious about it and feared it would keep him from becoming an artist. Instead, he focused on a career behind the scenes as a songwriter. He created the group, Answered Prayers, as an outlet for his songs. Soon, they were backing gospel stars when they traveled through the Maryland area. He composed songs such as Maurette Brown Clark’s No. 1 smash. “It Ain’t Over (‘Til God Says It’s Over),” which caused a buzz about Brown’s skills as a composer.
The encouragement inspired Brown to record an album as Anthony Brown & group therAPy (with the AP capitalized as an acknowledgement of the group’s genesis as Answered Prayers). The album was peddled to almost every major gospel recording label and turned down by them all. Fellow singer, VaShawn Mitchell, then pitched it to Tyscot Records which took a gamble on the project. The 2012 self-titled album launched with the percussive track, “Testimony,” which peaked at No. 3 on Billboard’s Gospel Airplay chart and spent an astounding 74 weeks on the survey. Since that time, Brown’s group has emerged as one of the leading acts in gospel music with Billboard Music Award nominations, Top Ten Billboard Gospel chart singles and 4 number ones – including their signature song, “Worth,” that held the No. 1 spot for 24 weeks in 2015.
Brown’s music fuses the percussive sounds of the streets with the ornate majesty of the classical music he studied at Morgan State University. That music doesn’t only revolve around typical gospel themes or stories. He also tackles self-esteem – something he’s personally had to battle – on tracks such as his gold-selling anthem, “Worth.” On his Pandemic project, he wrote about social justice following the killing of George Floyd on “Call to Action,” positive thinking on “Something Good,” and self-affirmation on “Enough.” With stuttering behind him, he also hosts a weekly radio program on WHUR 96.3 FM in Washington, D.C. and is now producing other gospel megastars.
