Journal of Gospel Music’s Best Reissues of 2025

• Selections were not based on external metrics, but on music reviewed by the Journal of Gospel Music.
• The 'Best Single' and 'Best Album' categories recognize outstanding gospel and sacred music releases.
• Historic reissues from the past decades are also celebrated for their artistic merit.

Journal of Gospel Music’s Best CDs, Singles and Historic Reissues of 2025

By Bob Marovich

The Journal of Gospel Music presents its year-end “Best Of” selections, highlighting outstanding singles, albums, and historic reissues.
These recordings were not chosen based on sales figures, chart performance, marketing campaigns, fan votes, social media engagement, committee deliberations, random chance, or any other external metric. Instead, the selections were guided by two simple criteria:
The music was submitted to Journal of Gospel Music for review—or reviewed by me for Living Blues magazine—and
JGM believes these releases most powerfully represented gospel and sacred music in 2025, based on overall artistic and musical excellence.
To the artists whose work does not appear on these lists: the selections were drawn solely from the releases that crossed the JGM desk in 2025, along with those I reviewed for Living Blues during the same period. I sincerely appreciate all of you, but the lists had to be narrowed to a select group.

Best Single
“Church” – Tasha Cobbs Leonard feat. John Legend (Motown Gospel)
The Rest of the Best (listed alphabetically by title)
“10,000 Reasons” – Forever Faithful (Independent)
“Blessings” – Yolanda Adams (Epic Records)
“Breathe On Me Again” – God’s Child’ren (Independent)
“Help” – Tasha Cobbs Leonard (Capitol Christian Music Group)
“I’m Standing With You” – Katie Cloyd (Independent)
“I Know I’ve Been Blessed” – Armstead Ford & Calvin Ivy (God’s Harvesters)
“In This Place” – Mervin Mayo (Tyscot)
“Near” – The Beautiful Gate Music (Independent)
“Promise Keeper” – Regina Vandereijk (Royal Increase Music)
“Thousand Tongues” – Amy Hillis (Amy Hillis Music)

Best Album
The Lord Is There (Deluxe Edition) – Regina Vandereijk (Royal Increase Music)
The Rest of the Best (listed alphabetically by title)
’92 – SEMAJE (Maje Entertainment / Tyscot)
Altar Call – Various Artists (Death Row)
By the Riverside – Lynda Randle (Gaither Music Group)
God Did It – Mervin Mayo (Tyscot)
House of David: Season One (Music Inspired by the Prime Video Original Series) – Various Artists (Capitol Christian Music Group)
Love Is the Only Key – The McCrary Sisters (Independent)
Parchman Prison Prayer: Another Mississippi Sunday Morning – Various Artists (Glitterbeat)
Praise in the Choir Stand – Brent Jones (JDI Entertainment)
Strange Things Happening – Kid Ramos feat. Brian Templeton & Johnny Ramos (Nola Blue)

Best Historic Reissue
West Coast Black Gospel, 1940–1973: Won’t Have to Cry No More – Various Artists (NarroWay)
The Rest of the Best (listed alphabetically by title)
Before This Time Another Year – Georgiaf Georgia Sea Island Singers (feat. Bessie Jones & John Davis) (Lomax Archive)
Just Over the Hill: Rare Recordings 1949–1972 – Clara Ward (Gospel Friend)
Sacred Songs Vol. 1 (1937–1978): The Deepest Sorrow – Various Artists (Lomax Archive)

Here’s the video to the song Church by Tasha Cobbs Leonard featuring John Legend