William Murphy
William Henry Murphy
William H. Murphy III, William Murphy III
August 2, 1973
Detroit, Michigan
gospel, black gospel, Christian R&B, contemporary R&B, urban contemporary gospel, traditional black gospel
Singer, songwriter
vocals
2005–present
Early life[edit]
Murphy was born in Detroit, Michigan on August 2, 1973.[1][2] His father and grandfather are pastors/bishops.[3] He moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 2001, with his wife Danielle and two children, to serve as the worship minister at New Birth.[3] He later founded The dReam Center Church of Atlanta in 2006, where Tasha Cobbs was on pastoral staff.[3] His wife, Danielle, is also a pastor at the church.[3] William is the Bishop of Worship in the FGBCF International ministry (Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship) under cofounder Bishop Paul S. Morton.
Music career[edit]
Murphy's music career began with the release of All Day on August 16, 2005, on Epic Records.[4] This peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart.[5]
His second album, The Sound, was released by Central South Records on May 1, 2007,[6] peaking at No. 23 on the same chart.[5]
His third album, We Are One, was self-released on July 26, 2011,[7] and it peaked at No. 16. It also placed on the Heatseekers Albums at No. 28.[5]
His fourth album, God Chaser, was released on February 5, 2013, by Verity Records.[8] It reached No. 90 on the Billboard 200, and placed at No. 3 on the Gospel Albums chart.[5]
Andy Kellman, writing for AllMusic, said that some of the tracks on this album are "potent numbers",[8] while Cross Rhythms rated the album a seven out of ten.[9]
God Chaser was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Album at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards.