Gospel Music A Brief History

A Celebration of Beautiful Music and Uplifting Spirit

M.A. Dworkin

Gospel Music Heritage Month was spearheaded by Alvin W. Williams in 2007.

It was established in June 2008 by dual legislation passed by the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, which designated September as Gospel Music Heritage Month. The mission of dedicating an entire month to Gospel Music was to educate and celebrate an art form and rich cultural heritage of all genres of Gospel Music through word and song. 

Williams was the creator and Director of Music World Gospel/Sony Music and has worked with Superstars such as Beyonce, Kelly Rowland and Michele Williams. His first release with Michelle Williams entered the Gospel Billboard charts at No. 1 as well as his second release, the soundtrack for the MTV/Paramount motion picture ‘The Fighting Temptations.’ 

When you examine the influence of Gospel Music on nearly every aspect of modern music, it’s easy to understand how the reach of such beautiful and powerful songs is nothing short of amazing. 

“Gospel Music’s influence throughout the world of secular music is huge,” said Tim Madeira, owner of WIVH (The Voice of Hope), St. Croix’s Christian music radio station. “It shines through such artists as Whitney Houston to Bob Dylan to Kanye West.”

The list of famous singers who have had their roots in Gospel is indeed quite formidable: John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Aretha Franklin, The Staple Singers, The Emotions, Donna Summer, Stephanie Mills, Faith Evans who was married to rapper Notorious B.I.G., Curtis Mayfield, Laura Mvula, and of course the grand lady of song, Whitney Houston.

Gospel Music is a traditional genre of Christian Music. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of Gospel Music varies according to cultural and social context. Gospel Music is composed and performed for many purposes, including aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, and increasingly in today’s marketplace, purely for entertainment. Originally, hymns and songs were often repeated in a call and response fashion at church services. Many churches relied on hand-clapping and foot-stomping as rhythmic accompaniment. Most of the singing was done a capella. The first published use of the term “gospel song” appeared around 1874. The advent of radio in the 1920’s greatly increased the audience for Gospel Music. Following World War II Gospel Music moved into major auditoriums and Gospel Music concerts began to be performed in very elaborate stage productions.

Black and Southern Gospel Music are largely responsible for Gospel’s continued presence in contemporary Christian Music, with Soul Music by far the best known popular music variant. Various styles have emerged from the African American music and Folk Music traditions and have evolved in various ways over the years, continuing to form the basis of Black church worship even today. Progressive Southern Gospel grew out of Southern Gospel over the past twenty years. Christian Country Music, sometimes referred to as Country Gospel, is a subgenre of Gospel but with a country flair. Bluegrass Gospel is rooted in American mountain music.   

In Chicago in the 1930’s, Thomas A. Dorsey established a publishing house based on Gospel Music. Around that time, the National Baptist Convention first publicly endorsed Gospel Music at its annual meeting. Dorsey was responsible for developing the musical careers of many African American artists, notably Mahalia Jackson, who has been called the “Queen of Gospel,” best known for her rendition of “Precious Lord, Take My Hand.”

“Gospel is where it all began. It came up from the South along with the Blues,” Tim Madeira told the St. Croix Times. “It’s not going away. Mary, Mary (the contemporary Gospel duo) performed at the Super Bowl. Our radio station WIVH at 89.9 has been the Voice of Hope in the Virgin Islands for thirty years.”

Suzette Jones, Crucian born, Independent Contemporary Gospel Recording Artist, whose ABGMA (Antigua Barbuda Gospel Music Awards) award-winning album single “Lift Him Up” mixes a blend of deep African undertones with a twist of Soca. 

“I write songs to give God thanks and praise for what he has given me,” Suzette said in a recent interview. “From early childhood I was touched by the musical influences of CeCe Winans and Yolanda Adams.” Her powerful and melodic voice won the ABGMA award for Best Songwriter of the year in 2018. 

Suzette is well-known in the islands, her first song “My God” is a more traditional Gospel vocal. “I love sharing the good news. Sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ through music,” she said. “Each person who sings along with me when I sing ‘My God’ can personalize it and it is your God you are singing about.”            

Whitney Houston was born into musical royalty with the church playing a major part in her upbringing. Her mother, Cissy Houston, was part of the Gospel oriented group the Sweet Inspirations, known for their work with Aretha Franklin, and her cousin Dionne Warwick. Whitney’s self-titled debut album was released in 1985 and featured the No. 1 pop hits ‘Saving All My Love For You,’ ‘How Will I Know,’ and ‘The  Greatest Love of All.’ She continued to perform church-based songs throughout her career, notably via ‘The Preacher’s Wife’ soundtrack. 

Otis Redding, whose hits included ‘Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay’ and ‘Try a Little Tenderness’ was the son of a Deacon and developed his strong but caring and vulnerable voice as a performer singing as part of the Junior Choir at the Vineville Baptist Church in Macon, Georgia. 

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter John Legend grew up in a family of church musicians, taking on vocals and the piano at an early age. During his Ivy League college years at the University of Pennsylvania he served as choir director for Scranton’s Bethel AME Church. Soon after graduation he began to work with Lauryn Hill and Kanye West, appearing on West’s label ‘GOOD’ with his debut album ‘Get Lifted,’ featuring the ballad ‘Ordinary People.’ Although Legend has stayed in the R&B and Pop lanes, a taste of earlier Gospel Music that interplays with his family can be heard on ‘It Don’t Have to Change.’

Controversial, enigmatic personality, Kanye West, is typically considered  a secular rap artist, but he’s veered into Gospel Music territory over the last few years as his faith deepens. After albums such as ‘Jesus is King’ and ‘Jesus is Born’ with the Sunday Service, the eccentric billionaire has emerged as a celebrated favorite among many of his Christian fans. Billboard Magazine immortalized Kanye in the Gospel space by crowning him Top Gospel Artist and Top Christian Artist in 2021. Although the inside word around the music industry is that Kanye will only make Gospel music from here on out, the one thing everyone knows about this multi-talented artist is that he is unpredictable.

The current state of Gospel Music intersects with the current state of the recording industry. As churches worldwide sing, play and live-stream songs like ‘Lion and the Lamb,’ ‘How Great is Our God,’ and ‘10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord),’ the popularity of these songs has ushered Christian Music further into the mainstream music industry and the vast economic ecosystem adjusting to make a profit in a new era. Many Christian artists, including those whose careers and brands are built on worship music, are benefitting from the enormous growth of the recording industry in the past few years. 

Although making money from the genre is nothing new - Christian Music has turned a profit for American investors for decades. What is new is the complicated web of demand, creation, and money making in today’s version of the recording industry. 

As Worship artists fill the country’s largest arenas, the more corporate entities stand to profit from worship hits, the more they are positioned to introduce incentives and exert pressure on the artists and producers of Gospel Music. The question that remains: Will the powerful incentives of the industry - fame and celebrity and financial success - influence the way worship songs are written, produced and promoted? And can the future of Gospel Music continue to grab hold of its church-based roots and retain its important and distinct spiritual purpose in a rapidly changing world that seems set on a contradictory path that could spell its destruction?