Whispers raise their voices for gospel album

By Gail Mitchell

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Legendary R&B group the Whispers have signed a deal to record their first gospel album.

Grammy Award-winning gospel icon Fred Hammond is on board to produce several tracks for the Kingdom Records project, which is tentatively slated for release in the fall.

"We've been wanting to do this for 10 years," founding member Nick Caldwell said in a press release announcing the project." The Whispers are best known for such R&B hits as "And the Beat Goes On," "Lady" and "It's a Love Thing."

Kingdom Records was established in 2000. Its roster includes the Shekinah Glory Ministry, Phil Tarver, Cynthia Jones, Tonya Baker and the Brown Sisters.

(Editing by Sheri Linden at Reuters)