The Legendary Clark Sisters: Where Are They Now?

The Clark Sisters rose to fame in the 1980s, and became one of the most mainstream and popular gospel vocal groups to date. However, now, the Clark Sisters are doing their own thing, although gospel music seems to still be a significant part of most of the Clark Sisters’ lives. 

When the Clark Sisters first came into the public view, they were a quintet, but in 1986, Denise left due to a personal conflict.

Since then, the Clark Sisters continued to make music, and in April 2020, a Lifetime biopic, The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel, was released, which brought the Clark Sisters back into the public eye. Now, the Clark Sisters are active in many ways through continuing to sing gospel music, preaching the importance of the church, and even selling merch through custom online stores.

All the current Clark Sisters are on Instagram. While they have performed as a group a few times in recent years (without Denise), the Clark Sisters are now all doing their own things on social media. They continue to be supportive of each other, sharing posts about each others’ projects, news, and birthdays. 

Dorinda Clark, whose solo career, which began in 2002 and earned her several Stellar Awards, a Soul Train Lady of Soul Award, and a Grammy nomination, is now still singing professionally. She most recently announced a virtual live concert, “An Evening with the Rose,” which will be performed on Feb. 28, so we can get tickets to the concert at mainstreem.tv.

Twinkie Clark was known as the soul of the Clark Sisters because she did most of the writing and production of their music. Now, Twinkie is still a musician, writer, and producer, and has lent her talents to other gospel artists. In her most recent Instagram video, she can be seen singing three songs dedicated to her late mother and gospel singer, Mattie Moss Clark.

Jacky Clark is a self-described “Lover of JESUS, Wife, Mother, Life Coach, Speaker, Clark Sister, Polished Image Consultant, Nurse, Author and Certified Essential Colors Facilitator.” She posts inspiring videos with her children and has a link to a shop called, “Aunt Jacky,” which has some very cute Aunt Jacky and Clark Sisters merchandise.

Karen Clark, like Dorinda, had a fairly successful solo career with several award nominations and wins. Unlike her sisters, Karen’s Instagram features her husband more than herself because he is running for reelection to the General Board of the Church of God in Christ. Together, Karen and her husband, Bishop J. Drew Sheard, preach family and religious values.

There is a fifth sister: Dr. Denise Clark, who is still estranged from her other four sisters. Dr. Denise was estranged when she had a child out of wedlock with a bishop. She left the vocal group in 1986, and hadn’t seen her sisters until their mother’s funeral in 1994. Even then, despite Denise’s hardships raising now three children out of wedlock, she clashed with her sisters.

There were rumors that Denise would rejoin the sisters for a live performance, but that hasn’t yet come to fruition. Since then, Denise has posted videos on YouTube as an apostle, and like her sister, Jacky, preaches positivity and spirituality. It’s reported that when Twinkie came down with an illness, Denise tried to visit and was blocked by the rest of the Clark Sisters. Although Denise had an active Instagram profile, it appears that she has since deleted it.

In 2020, the Clark Sisters released their new album, "The Return," which peaked at No. 2 on Top Gospel Albums. Their song, "Victory," hit No. 1 on the gospel charts, and was actually written by Karen Clark and her son, Drew, who also produced it. The album so far has now earned the Clark Sisters six NAACP Image Award nominations.