Gospel
Gospel is Christian music rooted in the Black churches of the United States, known for powerful vocals, choirs and call and response.
It grew from spirituals and hymns in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is sung with great feeling, often with handclaps, piano, Hammond organ and a full choir answering a lead singer. Modern gospel also uses the band sounds of R&B, funk and hip hop. Gospel singing shaped soul and R&B directly. It differs from contemporary Christian music, which is built on pop and rock instead of the Black church tradition.
Artists it is known for: Mahalia Jackson, The Clark Sisters, Kirk Franklin.
- Family
- Christian & Gospel
- On Spotify
- A current genre
- What it is
- A genre
- From
- United States, early 20th century
- Also called
- gospel music, black gospel
- Trackify listeners who play it
- 2%
About 1,400 of 83,000 Trackify listeners with public profiles have gospel among their top artists of the last four weeks. Rounded; updated 13 November 2026.
Gospel artists
Elevation Worship
Hillsong Worship
Maverick City Music
Hillsong UNITED
Sondae
Kirk Franklin
Nathaniel Bassey
The gospel artists most Trackify listeners have in their top fifty. Each opens on Spotify.
Sources
The definition is written for this site from open sources, and was checked against them on 13 November 2026.