Pastor Smokie Norful will perform at Unity In The Community Day Outdoor Music Festival. The festival honors our military and first responders and features national and local recording artists. The event takes place Saturday September 7th at the NC State Fairgrounds from 11 am to 6 pm. There will be free inflatable rides, face painting, child ID kits and more.
Smokie Norful
Smokie Norful catapulted to the top of gospel music scene over a decade ago. The Grammy® award-winning recording artist has since accomplished one feat after another and today, Smokie show no signs of slowing down. The world-renowned vocalist, Pastor, educator and visionary now brings his music and ministry efforts towards global humanitarianism.
As an internationally known musician, music composer and singer, Norful’s 2002 debut release I NEED YOU NOW launched him to worldwide recognition. Since that time he has found commercial success with three Number 1 Billboard Albums (I NEED YOU NOW, NOTHING WITHOUT YOU, SMOKIE NORFUL LIVE) and over 2 million albums sold worldwide. Norful is a multiple RIAA certified platinum-selling artist and has been named “Gospel Artist of the Year” in 2003 and 2004. He has earned several Stellar, Dove, Soul Train, NAACP Image and Grammy award nominations. Norful received the Grammy Award in 2005 for Contemporary Soul Gospel Album of the Year for his chart topping CD NOTHING WITHOUT YOU.
Norful has also contributed to five platinum selling compilations and has written songs for several major Gospel recording artists. His notable performances include appearances on The Trumpet Awards, Save Africa’s Children Event in Soweto, the BET Awards, the Stellar Awards, Soul Train, hosting and performing on the Dove Awards, the Parade of Stars, the Essence Music Festival, the New Orleans Jazz Festival and numerous other festivals, events, concert halls, and tours. He has starred on the Hopeville Tour along side Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams and Donnie McClurkin and will headline the McDonalds Inspiration Celebration tour this summer.
Norful is an educator at heart. Having received his degree in history from the University of Arkansas in Pine Bluff, Norful went on to teach for several years. He attended both Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (in Evanston, IL) and Trinity International Seminary (in Deerfield, IL) where he received a Master’s of Divinity and currently serves on the board of Regents for TrinityInternationalUniversity.
Norful officially launched his church VictoryCathedralWorshipCenter in Bolingbrook, IL on September 20, 2005 where he serves as Senior Pastor. Since its launch, Norful and the Victory Cathedral Church Family have experienced an extraordinary and unprecedented growth in this community. He launched a second campus on the south side of Chicago in September 2008. The ministry has been focused on reaching the community by encouraging its members to live a life to be remembered through volunteerism, charity and philanthropy via their Give Yourself Away initiative.
Smokie’s proudest roles are that as a husband, father. He & his wife Carla are proud parents of Tre and Ashton; they reside in suburban Chicago, IL.
Here’s Pastor Norful singing Justified:
