Go back 15 years and there stands a man, a razor sharp five-piece band, and a soaring vocal ensemble. The Tri-City Singers, almost single-handedly transformed not only the sound but the literal definition of the modern Gospel choir. With no other group can you locate a lexicon that adequately lists the adjectives to describe songs that have made their way not only to the top of the charts, but deeply into the hearts of millions. Formed in 1981, the 35-voice Tri-City Singers-born, bred and most still residing today in North and South Carolina-poured out their hearts in song for the Lord, and anyone else who cared to invite them to sing at numerous churches and community functions. For Tri-City's first decade that loyal following was centered in and around the group-member's home bases of Charlotte and Gastonia, NC and Spartanburg and Greenville, SC.

Donald Lawrence has always been a man with destiny on his mind, and the last 15 years of leadership of the heralded Tri-City Singers have seen all that and more come to pass, as he and Tri-City forged a masterful pop finesse and grace that literally gave a new face to the timeless musical tradition. After crossing paths and merging talents with fellow Carolinians, Donald-today a resident of Chicago-Tri-City quickly grew from a popular group in that small pocket of the mid-Atlantic United States to become one of modern Gospel's most popular and esteemed choirs, with a following that would grow as far and wide as America and the world itself.

Donald a songwriter, producer, singer and director-extraordinaire hailed by Billboard magazine as a "timeless tunesmith, lyricist and master of the mix," was a child born with a love for music, who grew up to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the prestigious Cincinnati Conservatory. Anticipating a career in musical theater, his plans were abruptly changed a year after his graduation when pop R&B superstar Stephanie Mills-the friend of a friend of Donald's-met the rising young prodigy and quickly hired him to be her musical director.

In the early-90s, a close friend of Donald's, who had served as Tri-City's musical director, resigned his position, suggesting to Donald that the choir already a tight, ready-for-primetime unit-would be a willing and able outlet for the burgeoning catalog of original choral music Donald had compiled on the side during his tenure with Mills.

By the mid-90s Donald had spent almost 10 years working and touring with the multi-platinum-seller Mills, and had produced two of her albums in 1992 and '94. Along the way he'd also established himself as one of gospel music's most esteemed producers, with a sterling resume comprising work with gospel R&B pop superstar Kirk Franklin, hit-maker Peabo Bryson, and gospel giants Daryl Coley, and the late Thomas Whitfield. Other entries on Donald's dazzlingly diverse list of credits include writing and directing several highly successful gospel musicals and plays, and serving as vocal coach for '90s chart royalty, En Vogue.

Donald accepted and was instrumental in signing the Tri-City Singers to their first major-label recording contract which yielded the 1993 hit album, A Songwriter's Point Of View. Nominated for several NAACP Image Awards, that debut was followed two years later with Tri-City's No. 1 breakthrough album and stage production, the Grammy-nominated Bible Stores. 1997 saw the Tri-City Singers offer their growing fans a warm holiday greeting with the top-10 hit, Hello Christmas, followed by the year 2000's quarter-of-a-million-selling tricity4.com with its electrifying crossover dance-chart, "Testify."

Though technically working in a director-choir setting, Donald & Tri-City were anything but typical of that format, reflecting Donald's unparalleled gift for remaining on the cutting edge of contemporary gospel music while remaining readily, irresistibly accessible to the entirety of the gospel marketplace. With tricity4.com Donald and the group made the rare kind of breakthrough that transforms an act from "most promising," to "here to stay," and "you better believe it," achieving an artistic and spiritual pinnacle that even the group's faithful founders themselves could not have dreamed of a decade earlier.

Buttressed by the tremendous success that tricity4.com received, along with an ever-burgeoning trophy case of Stellar and GMWA Awards, as well as Grammy nominations, and the exuberant embrace of large audiences wherever they traveled, Donald and Tri-City released Go Get Your Life Back in 2002, which became one of the year's best-selling releases. In addition to kickin' jams familiar to all Tri-City fans, Donald carefully crafted a shining veneer of gentle acoustic and orchestral sounds that movingly portrayed his and choir's deep commitment to the new material, produced and almost all of it-as on every Tri-City project-written or co-written by Donald.

The columniation of Donald & Tri-City's years together has been so huge that it took two nights to bring it to a close. Finalé the final farewell to a 15 year history, of music that transformed a generation and a sound that will always have a place in the hearts of Gospel music fans. Donald Lawrence and The Tri-City Singers gathered in Atlanta at the famed Tabernacle to take one last final bow. The energy of that night was like no other, all who came enjoyed a delightful taste of that unique sound. Two nights that captured what many call the heart of Tri-City. The songs we will always remember them for and new songs that take them to a majestic close. On this night some of Gospel Music's greatest performers came to the stage. "When Sunday Comes" featuring Daryl Coley, "Season" featuring Walter Hawkins, "Yet I'm Still Saved" featuring LaShun Pace, "Bless Me" featuring Sharla Byrd "I Am God" featuring Arnetta Murrill-Crooms, "When The Saints" featuring Erica McCollough, and "Encourage Yourself" featuring Sheri Jones-Moffett.

Finalé can be summed up in one statement as being a majestic and moving farewell to a true, and music-loved Gospel music institution.