Whitney Houston's New Gospel Album I Go to the Rock Will Feature 6 Previously Unreleased Songs

Scott Gries/ImageDirect Whitney Houston

A new Whitney Houston album, which will include six previously unreleased songs, has been announced.

A documentary TV special chronicling the late singer's history with gospel music, I Go to the Rock: The Gospel Music of Whitney Houston, will feature new material dating back to 1981 alongside a corresponding album, according to Good Morning America. The special will premiere March 24 on UPtv and Aspire TV.

The album's first single, "Testimony," arrived on Friday. Other selections from the project were originally featured on previously released soundtracks for The Preacher's Wife, Sparkle and The Bodyguard.

RELATED: See How Naomi Ackie Mastered Whitney Houston's Voice and Movements for 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody'

Among the never-before-released songs featured on the posthumous set are a version of Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" from VH1 Honors — which was performed in 1995 alongside CeCe Winans, who will host the documentary.

Others include "I Found a Wonderful Way," "He Can Use Me," "He/I Believe," and "This Day," the last of which she also performed at VH1 Honors in 1995.

Documentary highlights of Houston's gospel background include her first show in front of a live audience, performances at the American Music Awards, and additional moments from the NAACP Image Awards and Ebony's 50th anniversary special, GMA reports.

RELATED: All About Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown's Daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown

Pat Houston, executor of the singer's estate, has called the new project "a testament of Whitney's heart."

"Her love for gospel music permeates through every song with love, compassion and conviction. To love Whitney is to love what she represents to all that love the gospel," Pat said, per GMA. "I salute this project knowing that Whitney always stood on a solid rock for her love of gospel music."

Michael Zagaris/Getty

The new project arrives shortly after Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody — the biopic starring Naomi Ackie as the music legend — arrives on Blu-ray and DVD Feb. 28.

A new behind-the-scenes featurette shared exclusively with PEOPLE this week includes Ackie detailing how she mastered the movements and mannerisms of the late singer for the movie, which is now available on digital.

"There were many different elements: How do I prepare myself vocally, singing-wise? The accent work took about six months to get really comfortable with it," the British actress, 31, explains. "And how do I prepare myself physically? In terms of movement, I worked with my amazing friend and my movement coach, Polly Bennett, and we kind of split it all up."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Ackie previously told PEOPLE that she hopes the film, directed by Kasi Lemmons and featuring Houston's songs and vocals, would have received approval from Houston, who died in February 2012 at age 48.

"I would hope she would be like, 'Okay, Nai, you did a thing!' " Ackie said, with a laugh. "Also, she might have loads of notes and I'd just be like, 'Great — let's do another one. Direct me and we can do it again.' "