When Camden-born gospel music singer, songwriter, keyboardist and choir director Tyrone “Tye” Tribbett brings his all-new live showcase to The Fillmore Philadelphia on Wednesday, April 19, the event is something of a homecoming.
Tribbett and his Live Church ministering partner and wife Shanté Tribbett now live and work in Orlando, Florida, where they create everything from new gospel readings to fresh videos for Tribbett’s latest album, ‘All Things New’. But his upbringing and the start of Tribbett’s Grammy Award-winning career commenced over the bridge in South Jersey – a home that is never far from his mind.
His pastor father, Tye Tribbett II, played organ at the small El Bethel Church of Christ in Camden, New Jersey, before Ty III was born. Gospel music was in the young Tribbett’s blood, but he always had different plans for a music career beyond soulful spiritual song.
“My original goal was to play on an album that went Top Ten,” Tribbett says. “I knew that if I honed my skills as a player, somebody was going to give me that chance.”
Although Tribbett wanted to contribute to the gospel industry — “that’s where my convictions lie”— he promised himself that he would remain open to all forms of light. In his teens, he started a garage gospel act, Greater Anointing, with musician friends and church choir members.
“I just put them together to do my compositions casually, for demo purposes. Until I went, “Whoa, this sounds bigger than I thought it would.”
Then, his initial dream of backing top-charting acts live and, in the studio, came true starting in the early 2000s when Tribbett and his choir played behind country vocalist Faith Hill and The Eagles’ Don Henley in separate concerts.
“I didn’t know who Henley was,” Tribbett said. “But once he got us, he didn’t ever want to let us go.”
From there, Tribbett appeared on albums from Common, Justin Timberlake (most prominently on the single “Cry Me a River”), Patti LaBelle, Jessica Simpson, Usher, Sting and Will Smith. Sandwiched in between that work was Tribbett’s contribution to Dreamworks’ animated ‘Prince of Egypt’ film, ‘Let Go, Let God’.
And while his 2013 album, ‘Greater Than’ earned Tribbett two Grammy awards, his newest album, ‘All Things New’, has won him an even larger legion of fans with its No. 1 charting singles and digital tracks — all filled with trap beats, African high life, and gospel’s holy roll. So too has his ministry with Shanté, his wife, enlarged. The married couple used to run The Word on the Street, a weekly Wednesday ministry at the Boys & Girls Club on Westfield Avenue in Camden. Currently, they are behind the Live Church in Orlando.
Considering the plight of the world, and how gospel’s word conquers such gloom and trouble in song and through his ministering, Tribbett sees light battling the forces of darkness and evil.
“Stars only shine when it’s blackest outside,” said Tribbett “The darker things get — racism, recession — the more inspiring the light is, the more relevant we become.”
For information or to purchase tickets to Wednesday’s show at The Fillmore, visit thefillmorephilly.com
