Elbernita "Twinkie" Dionne Clark (born November 15, 1954) is an American Grammy Award-winning gospel singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, musician, and evangelist.
Artists such as Beyoncé, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans and also her sister, Karen Clark-Sheard have cited Clark as a major influence on their singing and vocal style and have also sampled her music in various songs of their own.
From the age of thirteen, she began touring nationally with her mother, ministering and training choirs in three-part vocal harmony.
[2] In 1967, she made her recording debut as a featured vocalist alongside her mother, sister Denise Clark, and Dolores Jones on the Southwest Michigan State Choir of the Church Of God in Christ's "He Will Supply Your Need", from the album A Closer Walk with Thee.
All while being on the road with her Mother Dr. Mattie Moss Clark traveling across the country conducting choir workshops, Twinkie served as the National Organist for the Churches of God In Christ while her Mother was the International President for The Churches of God In Christ’s music department.
Twinkie has created and mastered a unique blend of chords, rhythms, organ licks and a walking bass line that has been used widespread as the foundation for “shout or dance” music for many Christian denominations but is synonymous with the Church of God In Christ.
[4] The group achieved their biggest success with the mainstream, crossover hit "You Brought the Sunshine (Into My Life)" in 1983, which peaked within the top 20 of Billboard's Gospel and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts and hit a top 30 peak on the Hot Dance Club Play chart.
[18] In 2002, she released Twinkie Clark & Friends...Live in Charlotte which received a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album.
[20] Clark has been inspired by different genres of music, including jazz, reggae, classical, funk, and blues, and she lists artists such as Stevie Wonder, Walter Hawkins, Edwin Hawkins, Andraé Crouch, Charles Nicks, Aretha Franklin, and her mother, Mattie Moss Clark, as musical influences.
[2][1] Artists such as Beyoncé, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans and also her sister, Karen Clark-Sheard have cited Clark as a major influence on their singing and vocal style and have also sampled her music in various songs of their own.
She is the recipient of an honorary doctorate of sacred music from the Christian Bible Institute and Seminary (CBIS).