The biopic about the legendary Clark Sisters just became Lifetime’s highest rated movie since 2016 with 2.7 million viewers, Deadline reports.
The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel, aired this past weekend on the Lifetime Movie Network, detailing the iconic story of the group’s rise to fame. The movie featured an all-star cast with award worthy performances by Aunjanue Ellis (Dr. Mattie Moss Clark), Raven Goodwin ( Denise Clark Bradford), Sheléa Frazier (Dorinda Clark Cole), Christina Bell (Twinkie Clark), Angela Birchett (Jacky Clark Chisholm) and Kierra Sheard who played her mother, Karen Clark Sheard. The film was also executive produced by media mogul Dr. Holly Carter, alongside Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige and Missy Elliott. In other words, Black girl magic for the win!
The Detroit sisters rose to fame in the 1980s and are credited with bringing gospel to the mainstream. Collectively, they have a number of accolades including three Grammy awards and they hold the title for the highest-selling female gospel group ever, according Billboard.
With the press cancellations due to the pandemic, no one could be sure how the film would fare but the team forged ahead, curating viral campaigns in anticipation of the movie and now, a film that was 15 years in the making, has debuted to rave reviews. According to Nielsen, the film is the highest rated original movie for Lifetime since 2016 and the highest rated movie across television for 2020.
Karen Clark Sheard took to social media to thank all the viewers saying, “[This] is just amazing and literally has us all speechless...2.7 million viewers. We thank you all so much, we love you.”
An encore episode of The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel, airs this evening on Lifetime at 8pm EST. The film can also be viewed On Demand.
Photo Courtesy of @karenclarksheard/Instagram