Wedding gig spurs record contract

LONDON: The gospel choir that performed at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex has signed a record deal.

The Kingdom Choir performed Stand By Me in front of a huge global audience at the royal wedding at Windsor Castle on May 19.

The group has now signed a record deal with Sony Music UK and will release its debut album on November 2.

The choir will go into the studio later this month and the album will include its arrangement of the song that made it famous. It has received more than 10 million views on YouTube since the wedding.

The choir, which has also announced a headline concert at London’s Union Chapel on November 28, was founded in 1994 in London by awardwinning conductor Karen Gibson.

Before performing at the royal wedding, the group’s largest audience was just 200 people — but on June 2 its version of the song was at No 1 on the Billboard gospel charts.

‘‘The Kingdom Choir are absolutely delighted with the journey of the past few months,’’ Gibson said.

‘‘It’s been a roller coaster, but we wouldn’t have it any other way — first, the honour of being able to sing at the royal wedding, and then the thrill of being signed to Sony.

‘‘It’s like an undreamt dream — one that you wouldn’t even consider, because you never thought it could happen to you. We’re very grateful and very excited about what’s to come in the next few months too.’’

Nicola Tuer, chief operating officer of Sony Music UK, added: ‘‘We are absolutely thrilled to have signed The Kingdom Choir to Sony.

‘‘Along with the rest of the world, we were stunned by their incredible performance at the royal wedding, so we jumped at the chance to sign them.

‘‘The choir believe in love, music and power and we are excited to capture this on record for their fans across the globe.’’ — BPA