"Responsible for bringing Christian music to the mainstream music masses, sister act Mary Mary has been delivering R&B music since the late ‘90s.It may sound surprising, but neither of the Atkins sisters names is Mary. Erica and Tina Atkins grew up alongside one brother and five other sisters in Inglewood, CA to gospel singer parents. All of the Atkins kids sang in their church choir and the girls eventually landed on BET's Bobby Jones Gospel show. Erica and Tina joined ""Mama I'm Sorry"" Michael Matthews' traveling gospel show in 1995 and then performed in another Matthews production, ""Sneaky.""While touring as backup singers for several R&B acts, Erica and Tina wrote gospel material of their own. The sisters met with producer Warryn Campbell and signed a song publishing deal, subsequently releasing ""Dance,"" a song which they both wrote and performed with Robin S. ""Dance"" proved to be their big break, as it appeared on the soundtrack to the 1998 film Dr. Doolittle. Mary Mary scored another soundtrack spot with ""Let Go, Let God"" later that year when the song appeared on The Prince of Egypt Inspirational and artists like Yolanda Adams and 702 recorded songs penned by the sisterly duo.Mary Mary signed with Columbia/C2 Records and released their official debut single ""Shackles (Praise You)"" prior to Thankful in 2000. ""Shackles (Praise You)"" was a Top 10 R&B and Top 40 pop success and Thankful as a whole was a favorite among Christian audiences, who were thankful themselves for a young, hip Christian album. Mary Mary's follow-up to their debut album came in the form of 2002's Incredible, which featured the sisters writing most of the tracks themselves. By the time Erica and Tina released Mary Mary in 2005 they were both aunts (and, of course, mothers.) The issued a holiday album, A Mary Mary Christmas in 2006, followed by their most recent effort, 2008's The Sound."