Karen Clark Sheard
![Clark-Sheard in 2010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Karen_Clark_Sheard-photo-by-raymond-boyd.jpg)
During the hiatus of the Clark Sisters, Clark-Sheard recorded her debut studio album ''Finally Karen'' (1998), which spawned the single, "Balm in Gilead" (a re-recording of a song she originally recorded as part of the Clark Sisters in the 1980s for their ''Heart & Soul'' album) the R&B-tinged singles "Just for Me" and "Nothing Without You" (with Faith Evans). ''Finally Karen'' was among the highest-selling gospel albums of that year, and earned Clark-Sheard a Grammy Award nomination and a Soul Train Lady of Soul Award for "Best Female Vocalist".
Clark-Sheard then was hospitalized in 2001 after a blood vessel burst during a bariatric surgery, resulting in doctors giving her a 2% chance of survival. The experience inspired the title for her second album, ''2nd Chance'' (2002). Clark-Sheard recorded two more live albums—''The Heavens Are Telling'' (2003) and ''It's Not Over'' (2006)—before releasing ''All in One'' (2010), her second studio album. It debuted at number two on the ''Billboard'' Gospel Chart and entered the ''Billboard'' 200, while its single "Prayed Up" peaked at number nine on the Gospel Songs chart.
Singers Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, and Faith Evans have named Clark Sheard and her sisters as musical influences. Provided by Wikipedia