Kurt Carr (born October 12, 1964) is an American gospel music composer, songwriter, producer, and singer. While living in the city of Hartford, Connecticut, he served as Minister of Music at The First Baptist Church of Hartford located at the time on Greenfield Street. He is currently the Praise and Worship leader at The Fountain Of Praise in Houston, Texas.
Kurt Carr blends various genre-influences and Gospel subgenres into his music. His ensemble, The Kurt Carr Singers, are featured on all his albums and are present on most of the albums he produced and composed for other recording artists. Kurt Carr has won at least four Stellar Awards.
Kurt Carr was born on October 12, 1964 in Hartford, Connecticut, where he grew up in a family who believed in Jesus, but was not deeply involved in church. It was around the age of 13, Carr found himself being increasingly drawn to the church. During this period, Kurt Carr became also focused in his instrument playing, compositions, and singing. In his early teen years, he performed as an actor and dancer at the Hartford Stage Company in a Broadway musical called On the Town, which was directed by Clay Stevenson. He became an active member in his church's music department. At the age of 17, Carr realized that he was being called to do something even higher with his life. After high school, he entered into the music program at the University of Connecticut, where he studied classical music and earned a Fine Arts degree. Carr is a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.
Kurt Carr in his youth, was inspired under The Hawkins Family, and was cultivated under Richard Smallwood in his inception of his career. Kurt Carr eventually relocated to the Los Angeles region in the mid 1980s, subsequently hired to be musical director and pianist for Rev. James Cleveland, working for his church establishment of Cornerstone Institutional Baptist Church, alongside further aspects in the same established church and related career and ministry. This allowed Kurt Carr to be further into the Gospel Industry, including GMWA events and also on Bobby Jones Gospel. Being under the then-considered, "relevant" gospel figures, allowed Kurt Carr to further solidify his own career. In June 1987, Kurt Carr formed his first widespread wave of the gospel vocal ensemble titled The Kurt Carr Singers, continuing from the previous variant of the singers from the prior periods in the home area of Kurt Carr. The singers commenced their debut EP, I'm Glad in 1988 released on the Independent label. After signing with Light Records in 1990, the major label debut album was recorded in periods between July 1991, in concert, with further subsequent work of the record. The record, titled Together, featured blend of Traditional Gospel Music, R&B, Funk, Soul, and Classical Music, and was released in late 1991. Notable tracks included rendition of Love Under New Management, alongside the return of the indie-debut version "Holy, Holy, Holy." The record featured Kurt Carr in his role of, songwriter, arranger, producer, instrumentalist, and singer. The record charted, Number 10 on the Gospel Billboard Charts, and was Stellar Award Nominated. While still working under the ministry established under Rev. Cleveland, Carr became attendee of West Angeles Church of God In Christ, under the pastoralship of Bishop Charles Edward Blake. During the early and mid 1990s, Kurt Carr used dual roles in working for the ministry established under Rev. James Cleveland and being installed-music minister of the choir of West Angeles Church of God In Christ. In this vicinity, Kurt Carr was able to further be in the realm of both Contemporary Gospel Music and Praise & Worship. Andraé Crouch had also had his collaborations in working with Kurt Carr in his career, and further inspiring him directly. Transitions in the Light Records label, led to GospoCentric Records which was owned and co-founded by to Vicki Mack Lataillade.
Now signed onto GospoCentric, Kurt Carr spent periods producing and working with other acts, while the record label was developing. The singers had their debut on the label titled Serious About It! recorded in early 1994, with the record copies being available in late 1994. The album featured songs including the rendition of Salt-N-Pepa's "Whatta Man" titled, What a God, You Always Make A Way, and most notably, Surely God Is Able. The album succeeded onto the charts and stayed there for several months, eventually leading the Kurt Carr and the Singers to be featured on the "Why We Sing tour" with Kirk Franklin in 1995. After the period of touring, In July 1996, the singers commenced the following album on the label, No One Else, to be recorded at the West Angeles Church, subsequently avaliable on record in March 1997. The album also features Anastacia, Mary Mary, and Andrea McClurkin-Mellini (sister of Donnie McClurkin) serving as a few of the several additional background singers. The album most notably featured "For Every Mountain," which became one of the Carr's most known features over time. Other tracks were notably present, including Do You Know Him, which is the hip-hop "influenced" version of the previous rendition done under Edwin Hawkins of the same title in song. Both Serious About It! and No One Else, featured blending of R&B, Hip-Hop, Choral Compositions, and further intertwined into the musicality Kurt Carr had set forth. No One Else sold over 100, 000 copies, and was on the Billboard Charts for over one year. The Lineups of most of the singers who joined between 1987 formation to No One Else, had reunited in notable occasions; most notably, the 2025 Choir Master Awards.
In 2000, Awesome Wonder was released. Notable tracks included I Almost Let Go, Set The Atmosphere, and most notably, In the Sanctuary. The latter of the three became widespread inside its first year of release, eventually leading to internet memes, and the alike, in result of the success of the song over twenty years after the release. The album stayed in the charts longer than the previous albums and eventually earning gold, and nearly platinum. The record was known for its broader Praise & Worship vision, incorporating further ministry-centered doctrine in lyrics, and with further congregational focus, which departed from the overtly "urban sound" on the previous records. In the Sanctuary eventually transcended countries and regions during the early 2000s. Carr took it upon to produce and write tracks in the 2000s for Byron Cage, among others such as Tramaine Hawkins, and Bishop Paul S. Morton. In July 2004, Kurt Carr recorded The Kurt Carr Project: One Church which was successfully released in March 2005. The album was billed as "the Kurt Carr Project"; featuring the combination of the Kurt Carr Singers and several additional background vocalists. The record extended the worship-centered sound of Awesome Wonder, with the theme of this record being centered on blending the music genres of various regions. Notable features included "God Blocked It," among other notable tracks which had became considered-"staples." Kurt Carr recorded the first two disc album Just the Beginning, which was released on his self titled label Kurt Carr Gospel and Zomba in 2008. The record extended the "sound" of the previous two records, with heavier focus on congregational music and emulation of the charismatic church services.
In 2013, Bless This House was released on Verity Gospel Music Group, which was the renaming of Zomba Gospel. The record notably included the single "I've Seen Him Do It." The blended the ministerial focus of the 2000s records, with also the return of urbanized mainstream features, including the disco-influenced Always Covering Me and R&B/Pop influenced, It's A Good Day. The album debuted Number 1 on the charts. During the personal transitions during the early to mid 2010s, Kurt Carr released Bless Somebody Else on RCA Records' Gospel Label RCA Inspiration in 2019 in which Kurt Carr Gospel Label from Just the Beginning returned. The album continued the similar sound from the previous album. The titular single was released the same year of the record release of Bless Somebody Else, with "Blessing After Blessing," following one year later. Kurt Carr is currently set to release his upcoming record, being the first for the 2020s.