Mary Mary Talk Nationwide Insurance Viral TikTok Moment, Jokes They 'Truly Are on Our Side' (Exclusive)

The gospel duo also opened up about forgiveness to PEOPLE at the Music Saves L.A. event

Tina Campbell and Erica Campbell of Mary Mary
Tina Campbell and Erica Campbell of Mary Mary in Los Angeles on Nov. 1, 2023. Photo:

Randy Shropshire/Getty

Mary Mary has discovered that Nationwide really is on their side.

In an interview with PEOPLE at the Music Saves L.A. event, the gospel duo — comprised of Tina and Erica Campbell — opened up about watching Erica's daughter, Zaya, 9, go viral on TikTok for singing part of the Nationwide Insurance anthem.

Tina, 49, said that Mary Mary began singing the song themselves during one of their shows four or five years ago.

"We did a gig, and one of our band members was doing the whole Nationwide [theme song] like it was a church song. We just chimed in and was acting crazy. Then, Erica went home and played it for Zaya, and she sang it," she recalled.

Erica said that she posted it on social media and it "resurfaced."

"That was 2017, and it's resurfaced six years later," Erica, 51, said. "Nationwide has reached out, and they truly are on our side."

The "Walking" performers also detailed Tina's forthcoming solo single which focuses on forgiveness and features the line "unforgiveness is bondage."

"I realize a lot of people know about all that I went through in my marriage, and I had to forgive," Tina said, referring to a cheating scandal with her husband Teddy Campbell. "But there's so much more in life to forgive. You got to forgive your kids for breaking your good stuff."

Erica noted that there's a lot of people in the music industry that the duo could "hold grudges against."

"You can stay angry with your husband for what he didn't do at the kid's birthday party when they was 5. Like, it's so many things to forgive your business managers, other managers," she said.

Erica added: "Some people are angry with God because their life didn't go the way they wanted it to go, so the subject of forgiveness to me equals freedom. It equals release. It's not even about the other person."

Erica Campbell and Tina Campbell of Mary Mary
Erica Campbell and Tina Campbell of Mary Mary.

Marcus Ingram/Getty

Tina said that while not everything may be "OK," it's "all forgivable," which translates to the song

"I don't think that anybody should be unforgiving because it leaves you in bondage, and I just want to live, so I'm singing about it again," Tina concluded..

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Mary Mary released their last album Go Get It — a compilation of their greatest hits — in 2012.

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