Dallas-based choir director, vocal arranger, producer, and backup singer Myron Butler worked for names like Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams, and Donnie McClurkin before leading his own vocal group, Levi. The effervescent choir music of their first album, 2005's Set Me Free, landed in the Top 20 of Billboard's gospel albums chart and made Butler a Grammy nominee. After he released his first solo album, 2012's Worship, Myron Butler and Levi went all the way to top of the gospel albums chart in 2016 with their fourth full-length, On Purpose. Signing to the EMI Gospel label, Myron Butler and Levi released their first album, Set Me Free, in 2005. It was a hit, reaching number 18 on Billboard's Top Gospel Albums chart before its title track made a Top Three appearance on the Hot Gospel Songs chart in 2006. The record went on to win four Stellar Awards, including New Artist of the Year, and later earned a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album. The group's second release, the more reflective Stronger, followed in 2007. Next came 2010's Revealed...Live in Dallas, which featured guest stars Kirk Franklin and Smokie Norful. Issued in 2012, Worship was Butler's first album away from Levi. However, the separation was short-lived; he reunited with the group for 2016's On Purpose, which debuted at number one on the Top Gospel Albums chart. That same year, Butler published the self-help book Born Identity. When he eventually returned to the recording studio, it was for the solo album My Tribute. Featuring guests including Fred Hammond and Kirk Franklin, among others, it arrived on Fair Trade Services in 2020. ~ William Ruhlmann & Marcy Donelson