Donnie McClurkin Talks Recording Final Studio Album & New Single ‘Better Afterwhile’: ‘I Wanted to Help Encourage Everybody’

Since first rising as a solo artist with his 1996 self-titled debut project, Donnie McClurkin has invigorated and redefined Gospel and worship music with songs such as “I Call You Faithful,” “Wait on the Lord” (with Karen Clark Sheard), “Stand” and “Great Is Your Mercy.” Along the way, he’s earned 10 Stellar Awards and two BET Awards.

Now the triple Grammy winner is stepping away from recording music, but not without a final goodbye. “Better Afterlife,” the first song from McClurkin’s upcoming final recorded project, comes out today (Oct. 17).

“It’s a byproduct of the times that we’re living in,” McClurkin tells Billboard of the song. “I just wanted to help encourage everybody that no matter how bad times are, it’s going to get better after a while. Nothing remains the same and the different situations that we’re going through as a nation and a world, there needs to be some kind of encouragement to let them know that we’ve been through hard times before and we made it through.”

McClurkin’s new song previews FINALLY!, McClurkin’s last studio album and first since 2016’s The Journey. The set, recorded at TBN Studios in Hendersonville, Tennessee, will come out next year on Camdon Music/Fair Trade Services.

“Every good thing has to come to an end sooner or later,” McClurkin says of the decision to record his final project. “The Bible says you’ve got to learn how to number your days, and when it comes to the point through prayer that it’s time to move on, then you move. Our discography is solid. I just think that when you go out, you have to go out on top. When the Lord gives you the inclination that you’ve achieved your goal, then you can sit back, look at it and say, ‘Well done.’”

Under the banner of “Bringing Gospel Back to Gospel Music,” FINALLY! will feature a mix of new songs as well as classics, including “What a Mighty God” and “The Solid Rock.” The project was produced by Trent Phillips and Tre’ Corley, with McClurkin as co-producer and Jerard Woods as co-producer/vocal producer.

At 65, McClurkin may be gearing up to deliver one last landmark recording, but he’s brimming with goals for the years ahead.

He says he will continue to play occasional concerts including the United in Sound Festival at Carnegie Hall on Jan. 24. He remains the senior pastor at Perfecting Faith Church in Freeport, New York, and hosts the radio program The Donnie McClurkin Radio Show, heard in over 65 markets nationwide.

He also continues his work providing housing for those in need in areas including New York and Jamaica. The latter is with Food for the Poor. “So far, we’ve built three houses and every year, we are going to put two more houses in,” McClurkin says.