The journey of building a world-class gospel choir is the basis for the new Voices of Fire documentary series on Netflix, which delivers some super-satisfying sounds and stories.
It features six episodes with platinum recording artist Pharrell Williams and his uncle, Bishop Ezekiel Williams, in Pharrell’s hometown as they work on creating the group.
The good news is that viewers who want to enjoy and savor the sounds of the choir that Pharrell and his uncle built will be able to, as there are plans to release an album.
Voices of Fire is Bishop Ezekiel Williams’ super choir
On the six-episode Netflix original documentary series, Bishop Ezekiel Williams looks to bring his dream to life by creating one of the best and most inspirational gospel choirs anyone’s ever heard.
To do so, Bishop Ezekiel has 300 out of an initial 1,200 applicants auditioning for a spot in the choir. All of the singers are from the Hampton Roads, Virginia area, which is Pharrell Williams’ hometown.
Helping Bishop Ezekiel to judge the prospective singers for his choir are local gospel legend and vocal coach Peggy Britt, choirmaster Patrick Riddick, and music director Larry George.
Recording artist and super-producer Pharrell also stopped by to lend his ear. As many viewers know, Williams was one of the celebrity coaches on NBC’s The Voice from Season 7 through 10. He’s also credited as an executive producer on the series.
Throughout the Voices of Fire series, viewers are not only treated to the amazing vocal talents of the sopranos, altos, and tenors but also learn about some of their unique life stories. Some may even describe this as an American Idol in a church setting.
For those who haven’t seen it, check out the official trailer, which gives more of the backstory for the Netflix series and even previews at least one of the impressive auditions.
The ultimate goal is to assemble a top-notch 75-singer choir, which consists of the 25 best sopranos, 25 best altos, and 25 best tenors. It seems that as the series’ first season was wrapped up, that goal was achieved to the delight of Pharrell and Bishop Ezekiel Williams.
Album announced by Pharrell, confirmed by Bishop Williams
In the final episode of the series, the choir gives an amazing performance in Norfolk, Virginia. Pharrell tells his uncle how proud he is of him and talks about how happy he was to be a part of the process.
At the very end of the final episode, it’s revealed that Voices of Fire has signed with Pharrell and Columbia Records to produce their very first album.
Since that debut in Norfolk, the choir has also appeared on various late-night TV programs, including Jimmy Kimmel Live and Stephen Colbert’s show. In addition to that, the choir performed in front of over 600,000 people at the Global Goal Live Concert.
As of this writing, not a whole lot is known about when their album will arrive or what it will include. However, Bishop Ezekiel Williams also confirmed that they have some work to do making music.
“Thank you to everyone who sacrificed the time to watch the show and express your appreciation. It means so much, and I pray it continues to bless you again and again. Get ready, because there’s more to come and we’re about to make music!” he wrote in the caption for his Instagram post upon the series’ release.
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Due to the reveal, most likely Pharrell will lend his production skills to help bring this album out. He’s known for assisting everyone from Britney Spears to Snoop Dogg to Jay-Z in making catchy hit music. Pharrell has also shown his overall versatility in terms of what he can create, making him the perfect producer for this.
It’s unknown right now when the project will drop or how many songs it will consist of, but based upon what was presented on the documentary series, it should be uplifting music to many listeners’ ears.
Fans interested in updates about the project may want to follow the Voices of Choir Instagram page. There’s also Bishop Williams’ IG page and, of course, Pharrell’s Instagram here.
Voices of Fire is currently streaming on Netflix.