McClurkin was born and raised in Amityville, New York. McClurkin found comfort through an aunt who sang background vocals with gospel music musician Andrae Crouch. After staying close to Crouch throughout his boyhood, he began to play piano and sing with his church youth choir. He formed the McClurkin Singers by the time he was a teenager, and later formed another group, the New York Restoration Choir.

Hired as an associate minister at Marvin Winans' Perfecting Church in 1989, with his vocals during a seminar, McClurkin endured a bout with leukemia that year.

A friendship with a Warner Alliance executive resulted in his signing to the label for his 1996 self-titled LP, with producers Mark Kibble (of Take 6), Cedric and Victor Caldwell plus Andrae Crouch. The disc, which featured the perennially popular "Stand," went gold shortly after being publicly lauded by Oprah Winfrey. At the 48th annual Grammy Awards, he won a grammy in the category Traditional Soul Gospel Album, for "Psalms, Hymns & Spiritual Songs".In 2004, he sang at the Republican National Convention. He is now the pastor of Perfecting Faith Church in Freeport, New York.