Starting tomorrow, a fan favorite event is returning to the Disneyland Resort: Celebrate Gospel!
For 2 Saturdays (the 17th and 24th), park visitors can attend a special gospel music tribute in honor of Black History Month. Usually, this event takes place over in Hollywood Land in California Adventure, but this year, the performers will take to the Fantasyland Theater stage in Disneyland.
You don’t need a special ticket to participate in Celebrate Gospel; anyone with a Disneyland ticket on either day is welcome to attend the shows.
And here’s a little background on the two headliners:
Marvin Sapp:
More than 30 years after being introduced to gospel music fans as a member of the legendary group Commissioned, Marvin Sapp is still making chart-topping, relevant hits that are a part of every gospel music lover’s playlist.
Sapp is the recipient of 24 Stellar Awards, 2 Soul Train Music Awards, 2 BET Awards, 4 Dove Awards and 8 BMI Songwriter’s Awards, and he’s a 13-time Grammy nominee—among numerous other accolades. His massive crossover hit, “Never Would Have Made It,” spent 47 weeks at the top of the radio airplay chart and remains one of the longest running #1 songs of any genre.
Sapp was named Billboard’s Top Male Gospel Artist in 2015. In 2019 he was named one of Billboard’s Top 10 Gospel Artists and his greatest hits project, The Very Best of Marvin Sapp, was one of Billboard’s Top 10 Gospel Albums. Sapp released his 15th album, Substance, in 2022, which landed him his seventh consecutive #1 album debut on Billboard’s gospel sales chart and his sixth #1 song on gospel radio.
Tasha Cobbs Leonard:
A pastor’s daughter born and raised in Georgia, Tasha Cobbs Leonard first emerged to widespread acclaim with her breakout 2013 release, Grace, which garnered a Grammy Award, 3 Dove Awards and 3 Stellar Awards on the strength of its chart-topping, platinum-selling lead single, “Break Every Chain.”
In the years that followed, Leonard would go on to establish herself as one of her genre’s most celebrated voices, racking up more than 2 billion streams across platforms and landing 3 more #1 singles and 5 #1 albums. Billboard named Leonard the Top Gospel Artist of the Decade, while NPR declared her a “gospel sensation,” and Forbes hailed her as “by far one of the most successful contemporary gospel artists of our time.”
“I like to think of these songs as hymns from the future,” says Tasha Cobbs Leonard. “They’re meant to live on for generations, to reach people I’ll never meet, to spread the gospel for years and years to come.”
Between headliner performances, park guests will also be able to enjoy two local choir groups:
Sacred Groove: From soul-stirring beloved classics to upbeat modern hymns, 6 phenomenal a cappella vocalists take you on a joyous gospel journey.
The Singers of Soul: Previously performing and recording with artists such as Beyoncé, BTS and Dolly Parton, LA’s premier gospel choir is sure to knock your Disney socks off.
For more information about Celebrate Gospel, visit the official event page here.