Andraé Edward Crouch was an American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, record producer and pastor. Referred to as "the father of modern gospel music" by contemporary Christian and gospel music professionals, Crouch was known for his compositions "The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power", "My Tribute " and "Soon and Very Soon". He collaborated on some of his recordings with famous and popular artists such as Stevie Wonder, El DeBarge, Philip Bailey, Chaka Khan, and Sheila E., as well as the vocal group Take 6, and many popular artists covered his material, including Bob Dylan, Barbara Mandrell, Paul Simon, Elvis Presley and Little Richard. In the 1980s and 1990s, he was known as the "go-to" producer for superstars who sought a gospel choir sound in their recordings; he appeared on a number of recordings, including Michael Jackson's "Man In the Mirror", Madonna's "Like a Prayer", and "The Power", a duet between Elton John and Little Richard. Crouch was noted for his talent of incorporating contemporary secular music styles into the gospel music he grew up with. His efforts in this area helped pave the way for early American contemporary Christian music during the 1960s and 1970s.
Reverend James Edward Cleveland was an American gospel singer, musician, and composer. Known as the King of Gospel, Cleveland was a driving force behind the creation of the modern gospel sound by incorporating traditional black gospel, soul, pop, and jazz in arrangements for mass choirs. Throughout his career, Cleveland appeared on hundreds of recordings and earned four Grammy Awards. He was the first gospel musician to earn a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1984. For his trailblazing accomplishments, he is regarded by many as one of the greatest gospel singers who ever lived. His best known recordings include "Lord, Help Me to Hold Out", "Peace Be Still", "I Don't Feel No Ways Tired", “Where Is Your Faith", "The Love of God", "God Has Smiled on Me", and "Jesus Is the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me."
Bishop Frederick Douglas Washington was a Pentecostal minister of the Washington Temple Church of God in Christ (COGIC) in Brooklyn, New York. His most famous protégé is Rev. Al Sharpton, who acknowledged his call as a minister at the age of nine.
Donald Andrew McClurkin Jr. is an American gospel singer and minister. He has won three Grammy Awards, ten Stellar Awards, two BET Awards, two Soul Train Awards, one Dove Award and one NAACP Image Awards. He is one of the top selling gospel artists, selling over 10 million albums worldwide. Variety dubbed McClurkin as a "Reigning King of Urban Gospel".
John P. Kee is an American gospel singer and pastor.
Kimberly Jean Burrell is an American gospel singer, songwriter, and pastor from Houston, Texas.
Albertina Walker was an American gospel singer, songwriter, actress, and humanitarian.
Tarrian LaShun Pace, professionally known as LaShun Pace and sometimes credited as LaShun Pace-Rhodes or Shun Pace-Rhodes, was an American Grammy Award–nominated gospel singer–songwriter and evangelist. Pace was also a Stellar Award winner.
Walter Lee Hawkins was an American gospel singer, songwriter, composer, and pastor. An influential figure in urban contemporary gospel music, his career spanned more than four decades. He was consecrated to the bishopric in 2000.
Paul Sylvester Morton is an American Baptist pastor, Gospel singer and author. He is also a founder of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship, International. He is the co-pastor of Changing a Generation Full Gospel Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and head of Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church in New Orleans, Louisiana.
WOW Gospel 1998 is a gospel music compilation album in the WOW series. It was released on January 27, 1998 and is the first WOW album to feature and focus on contemporary gospel in the wake of its growing popularity at the time, thus setting high standard for future releases. It reached chart position 100 on the Billboard 200, and second place on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart.
WOW Gospel 1999 is a gospel music compilation album in the WOW series. Released February 23, 1999, it features thirty-three songs on two CDs. It reached 94 on the Billboard 200 chart, and second place on the Top Gospel Albums chart in 1999.
The Colorado Mass Choir is an American gospel choir.
WOW Gospel 2009 is a gospel music compilation album from the WOW series. Released on January 27, 2009, it includes thirty songs and two bonus tracks on a double album. It reached number 27 on the Billboard 200 chart in 2009, and number one on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart. The album cover pays tribute to the United States of America, particularly with the 2008 election and 2009 inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama.
Sound of Gospel Records was founded in Detroit, Michigan, United States in 1969 by Armen Boladian. It is a gospel subsidiary record label of Westbound Records, where Boladian was also its former president.
WOW Gospel 2010 is a gospel music compilation album from the WOW series. It was released on January 26, 2010, and features thirty gospel hits on a double CD set. The album cover pays tribute to Detroit, Michigan. The album held number one position for several weeks on Billboard's Top Gospel Albums chart, and reached number 40 on the Billboard 200 chart in 2010.
Bishop Hezekiah Walker is a popular American gospel music singer and artist and pastor of prominent Brooklyn New York Pentecostal megachurch, Love Fellowship Tabernacle. Walker has released several albums on Benson Records and Verity Records as Hezekiah Walker & The Love Fellowship Crusade Choir.
Clay Evans was an African American Baptist pastor and founder of the influential Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago, Illinois, famous for its gospel music infused Sunday service and choir. Evans released his first musical project in 1984, What He's Done For Me with Savoy Records. All-in-all, he has had eleven albums that have charted on the Billboard Gospel Albums chart over the course of his career. He received a nomination for the Best Gospel Album at the 1997 Soul Train Music Awards.
Milton R. Brunson was an American gospel musician and former pastor and music director of Christ Tabernacle Baptist Church in Chicago, Illinois. Brunson released his first musical project in 1988, Available to You. The title track has become a gospel standard.
Reverend Oris Lee Mays was an American preacher, gospel singer and songwriter.
