The Gospel Music Hall of Fame, created in 1972 by the Gospel Music Association, is a Hall of Fame dedicated exclusively to recognizing meaningful contributions by individuals and groups in all forms of gospel music.
The Oak Ridge Boys are an American country and gospel vocal quartet originating in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The group was founded in 1943 as the Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in Southern gospel during the 1950s. Their name was changed to the Oak Ridge Boys in the early 1960s, and they remained a gospel group until the mid-1970s, when they changed their image and concentrated on country music.
Jake Hess was an American Grammy Award-winning southern gospel singer.
William James Gaither is an American singer and songwriter of Southern gospel and contemporary Christian music. He has written numerous popular Christian songs with his wife Gloria; he is also known for performing as part of the Bill Gaither Trio and the Gaither Vocal Band. In the 1990s, his career gained a resurgence, as popularity grew for the Gaither Homecoming series.
The 2nd Annual GMA Dove Awards were held in 1970. They recognized accomplishment of musicians for the year 1969.
The Blackwood Brothers are an American southern gospel quartet. Pioneers of the Christian music industry, they are 8-time Grammy Award winners in addition to winning 7 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards. They are also members of the Memphis Music Hall of Fame, Gospel Music Hall of Fame, the Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame.
John Daniel Sumner was an American gospel singer, songwriter, and music promoter noted for his bass voice, and his innovation in the Christian and Gospel music fields. Sumner sang in five quartets and was a member of the Blackwood Brothers during their 1950s heyday. Aside from his incredibly low bass voice, Sumner's business acumen helped promote Southern Gospel and move it into the mainstream of American culture and music during the 1950s and 1960s.
James Webre Blackwood was an American gospel singer and one of the founding members of legendary Southern gospel quartet The Blackwood Brothers. He is the only person in any field of music to have been nominated for a Grammy Award for 28 consecutive years. He received 31 nominations and won nine Grammy Awards.
The Imperials are an American Christian music group that has been active for over 55 years. Originating as a southern gospel quartet, the innovative group would become pioneers of contemporary Christian music in the 1960s. There have been many changes for the band in membership and musical styles over the years. They would go on to win four Grammys, 15 Dove Awards and be inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
The Statesmen Quartet were an American southern gospel quartet founded in 1948 by Baptist Minister Hovie Lister. Along with the Blackwood Brothers, the Statesmen Quartet were considered the most successful and influential gospel quartet of the 1950s and 1960s and had a wide influence on artists during that time from the gospel, country, pop, and rock and roll genre. Along with hits spanning many decades, The Statesmen Quartet had many notable successes including being the first Gospel group to receive endorsement deals. Additionally, they made television commercials, appeared on numerous radio and TV shows, and were signed to RCA Victor before launching their own record label, Skylite Records, with The Blackwood Brothers.
The fourth Gospel Music Association (GMA) Music Awards were held in 1972 for accomplishments of musicians for the year 1972.
The Cathedral Quartet, also known as the Cathedrals, was an American southern gospel quartet who performed from 1964 to December 1999. The group's final lineup consisted of Glen Payne (lead), George Younce (bass), Ernie Haase (tenor), Scott Fowler, and Roger Bennett.
Gaither Homecoming is the name applied to a series of videos, music recordings and concerts, which are organized, promoted and usually presented by Christian music songwriter and impresario Bill Gaither.
Heart Warming was a gospel record label started by John T. Benson Jr. Heart Warming and their chief rival Canaan Records were arguably the two biggest and best gospel labels in their time. The Oak Ridge Boys, Jd Sumner and the Stamps Quartet, Jake Hess & The Imperials, Dottie Rambo, Bill Gaither Trio and Speer Family all signed to it and had many recordings on it. The Cathedral Quartet produced two of their most popular albums on it With Brass and With Strings.
Calvin Newton was an American gospel singer from West Frankfort, Illinois.
John Wallace "Wally" Fowler was an American Southern gospel music singer, manager, and music promoter and businessman. He founded the Oak Ridge Quartet, a gospel act that eventually became the Oak Ridge Boys; and popularized all-night gospel sings. An accomplished songwriter in both the country music and gospel fields, Fowler's composition "Wasted Years" became a gospel music standard. He was known as The Man with a Million Friends and Mr. Gospel Music.
The Masters Five or Masters V was a Southern Gospel Music quartet founded in 1980 by Hovie Lister as a special consolidation of well-known performers from The Statesmen Quartet and The Blackwood Brothers. The group featured J.D. Sumner as bass, Rosie Rozell and then Steve Warren as tenor, James Blackwood and Jake Hess alternating between lead and baritone, and Lister on piano. Their self-titled debut album, The Masters V, won the 1981 Grammy Award for best traditional gospel performance. The quartet subsequently endured several personnel changes, often due to health and age-related issues. The group's final performance was in 1988.
"In My Father's House" is a gospel song by the Blackwood Brothers, originally recorded in 1954. It was one of only two songs, the other being "I Have But One Goal", which the group recorded between 1953 and 1956.
"He Touched Me" is a gospel song written by Bill Gaither in 1963.
Gary McSpadden was an American pastor, singer, songwriter, record producer, television host and motivational speaker. He had musical roots in quartet music and Southern gospel with The Statesmen, The Oak Ridge Boys, The Imperials, The Bill Gaither Trio, and The Gaither Vocal Band. McSpadden's songs include "Jesus Lord To Me", "Hallelujah Praise The Lamb", and "No Other Name But Jesus". He has produced albums for numerous groups. In 1987, he co-hosted PTL Today after Jim Bakker resigned. McSpadden went on to produce television programs, including the "Jubilee" concert series filmed at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. He also produced and starred in several live music shows in the Branson area during the 1990s and 2000s.
