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.
Gospel music is a genre of Christian Music that spreads the word of God and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is composed and performed for many purposes, including aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, and as an entertainment product for the marketplace. Gospel music is characterized by dominant vocals and strong use of harmony with Christian lyrics. Gospel music can be traced to the early 17th century.
Jake Hess was an American Grammy Award-winning southern gospel singer.
Benson Records was founded by Bob Benson and John T. Benson, who formed the John T. Benson Music Publishing Company in 1902. The record label started out as Heart Warming Records, creating house labels such as Impact Records, Greentree Records, RiverSong, StarSong, Power Discs and Home Sweet Home. In the 1970s, Impact became the top label with artists such as New Dawn, the Imperials, J.D. Sumner & The Stamps Quartet, the Rambos, Dottie Rambo, the Archers, the Bill Gaither Trio, the Speer Family and Sandi Patty.
Virgil Oliver Stamps (1892–1940) was a shape note promoter, singer, composer, and singing school teacher.
Southern gospel music is a genre of Christian music. Its name comes from its origins in the southeastern United States. Its lyrics are written to express either personal or a communal faith regarding biblical teachings and Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music. Sometimes known as "quartet music" for its traditional "four men and a piano" set up, southern gospel has evolved over the years into a popular form of music across the United States and overseas, especially among baby boomers and those living in the Southern United States. Like other forms of music, the creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of southern gospel varies according to the cultural and social context. It is composed and performed for many purposes, ranging from aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, or as an entertainment product for the marketplace.
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. In 2023 he released a secular music album with the Gaither Vocal Band entitled “Love Songs”.
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.
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 National Gospel Singing Convention is an annual Southern gospel music event, and has played a significant part in the development of Gospel music.
Glen Weldon Payne was a Southern gospel vocalist who served for 55 years and was known for being the lead vocalist for The Cathedral Quartet.
Jesse Randall Baxter, Jr., known professionally as J.R. Baxter and sometimes referred to as "Pap", was an American Southern Gospel composer and publisher.
The Dixie Melody Boys were an American Southern Gospel quartet from Kinston, North Carolina formed in 1961 and retired in 2023. The group was known for giving many young Southern Gospel and Christian artists their start in the gospel music industry and their innovation in the Christian music field.
“Give the World a Smile” was the theme song for the Stamps Quartet, and probably the first Southern gospel song to become a “gold record.”
"The Hymn of Joy" is a poem written by Henry van Dyke in 1907 in being a Vocal Version of the famous "Ode to Joy" melody of the final movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's final symphony, Symphony No. 9.
Singing the Living Tradition is a hymnal published by the Unitarian Universalist Association.
John Robson Sweney was an American composer from Pennsylvania. He was a professor of music at the Pennsylvania Military Academy for twenty-five years and collaborated with William J. Kirkpatrick to produce and publish over 1,000 gospel hymn songs and over sixty hymnal books. His most popular and widely known hymn is "Beulah Land".
Haven Today is a national broadcast Christian radio program. The radio program was founded in 1934 as The Haven of Rest by Paul Myers, who became a radio personality known for Christian ministry. The program has had four hosts: Myers, Paul Evans, Raymond C. Ortlund Sr., and Charles Morris. The daily broadcast is currently on over 600 stations in North America and overseas.
M. E. Willson was an American gospel singer, lyricist, composer, and evangelist. She contributed words and music to most of the gospel song-books published between 1881 and 1893.
Emma Louise Ashford was an American organist, composer, and music editor. She wrote over 600 compositions. From 1894 to 1930 she was an editor at Lorenz Publishing Company, and at its periodicals The Choir Leader and The Organist.
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