Albertina Walker, the Chicago singer known as the “Queen of Gospel” died today. Walker died of respiratory failure at a Chicago hospital. She had been in hospital since August.
Walker in 2001. | |
Background information | |
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Also known as | Queen of Gospel Music |
Born | August 29, 1929 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Died | October 8, 2010 (aged 81) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Genres | Gospel |
Occupation(s) | Singer, Composer, Producer, Actress |
Instruments | Vocals |
Years active | 1941–2010 |
Labels | Malaco Records Savoy Records Benson Records Word Records A&M RecordsScepter Records Hob Records |
Associated acts | Sisters of Glory Robert Anderson James Cleveland The Caravans Mahalia Jackson Inez Andrews Shirley Caesar Dorothy Norwood O'landa Draper |
Website | albertinawalker.org |
Albertina Walker (August 29, 1929 – October 8, 2010)[1] was an Americangospel singer, songwriter, actress, and humanitarian. She was popularly referred to as the 'Queen of Gospel Music'.
- 6Discography
- 7Videography
Early years[edit]
Walker was born in Chicago, Illinois,[2] to Ruben and Camille Coleman Walker. Her mother was born in Houston County, Georgia, and her father in Bibb County, Georgia. They moved to Chicago between 1917-1920 where they lived out their lives. Albertina had four siblings born in Bibb County and four born in Chicago. Albertina began singing in the youth choir at the West Point Baptist Church at an early age, and joined several Gospel groups thereafter, including Pete Williams Singers, The Willie Webb Singers and the Robert Anderson Singers.[3] Albertina was greatly influenced by Mahalia Jackson, her friend and confidante, whom Jackson took on the road when Albertina was just a teenager. 'Mahalia used to kid me. She'd say, 'Girl, you need to go sing by yourself,' recalled Walker in a 2010 Washington Post interview. Albertina Walker did just that. In 1951, she formed the group called The Caravans. She was popularly referred to as the 'Queen of Gospel Music', initially by such notables as the late Reverend James Cleveland and Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr, for her outstanding achievements within the genre after the death of Mahalia Jackson in 1972.[4]
Musical career[edit]
In the early 1950s Walker founded her own Gospel music group The Caravans, enlisting fellow singers from The Robert Anderson Singers (Ora Lee Hopkins, Elyse Yancey and Nellie Grace Daniels). The Caravans' membership has included: James Cleveland, Bessie Griffin, Shirley Caesar, Dorothy Norwood, Inez Andrews, Loleatta Holloway, John McNeil, Cassietta George, and Delores Washington. Her discovery of these artists resulted in the nickname 'Star Maker'. Walker retired The Caravans in the late 1960s, performing as a solo artist.
In the mid-1970s, Walker signed with Savoy Records then Benson Records, Word Records, A&M Records, and other record companies, recording a series of solo projects, many of them with big church choirs including The Evangelical Choir, The Cathedral of Love Choir, The Metro Mass choir, and her own church choir, The West Point Choir. Albertina recorded her first solo project Put a Little Love in Your Heart in 1975. She also recorded several projects together with Reverend James Cleveland. To date, she has recorded over 60 albums, including gold selling hits 'Please Be Patient With Me', 'I Can Go to God in Prayer', 'The Best Is Yet to Come', 'Impossible Dream', and 'Joy Will Come'. Walker sang for United States presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and South Africa's president, Nelson Mandela.
In 1995, Walker joined Thelma Houston, CeCe Peniston, Phoebe Snow and Lois Walden to record a gospel album in common, Good News in Hard Times, as the quintet called The Sisters of Glory.
Walker recorded a reunion album with her group The Caravans entitled Paved the Way, which was released by Malaco Records on September 5, 2006. Performers included Walker, Dorothy Norwood, Inez Andrews, Robert Estevis and Delores Washington. The album was dubbed by Billboard magazine as one of the most memorable releases of 2006[5] and entered the Billboard charts in the top ten and remained in the top forty for sixteen weeks. Paved the Way was nominated for a Grammy, Dove, Soul Train Music Award and two Stellar Awards.
Awards[edit]
Walker earned many awards and honors over her six decades of music ministry. Among them, a 1995 Grammy Award for the Best Traditional Gospel Album (Songs of The Church); 10 Grammy Award nominations; 5 Gold Records; 3 Stellar Awards; 3 Dove Awards; several Gospel Music Workshop of America Excellence Awards; an induction into the 2001 Gospel Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. President George Bush honored Albertina Walker for her contribution to gospel music on May 31, 2002. In 2005, the Grammys honored her contributions to the Gospel music industry. R.E.A.- Robert Estevis Award for the album, The Caravans, Paved The Way. She is also a recipient of a 2005 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States' highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.[6]
Influences[edit]
![Albertina Albertina](/uploads/1/2/5/8/125875817/306397205.jpg)
Ms. Walker is featured in the book entitled Who's Who in Black America as well as other volumes related to the Golden Age of Gospel Music. She received several keys to various cities and was honored at the Chicago Gospel Festival where a bench bearing her name was placed in downtown Chicago's Grant Park. The City of Chicago paid tribute to Albertina by renaming 35th and Cottage Grove 'Albertina Walker and The Caravans Drive'. Albertina was also conferred an honorary Doctor of Letters Degree by the Chicago Theological Seminary, an institution of the University of Chicago.
Walker co-founded the Gospel Music Workshop of America along with James Cleveland. Albertina also lent her support to many charitable organizations such as United Negro College Fund, American Cancer Society, National Council of Negro Women, Nation of Islam's Million Family March, One Voice: 'A Fight Against AIDS', NAACP and Operation Push. In 1988 Albertina Walker founded The Albertina Walker Scholarship Foundation for the Creative and Performing Arts. Her foundation offers financial assistance to college students in the form of scholarships to further their education in the field of music. During her reign as Queen of Gospel music, she also had four great accompanist/personal assistants, John McNeil, Eric Peterson, Robert Estevis and Sheila Mckinney. All have played an integral part of assisting and performing with Ms. Walker.
Death[edit]
On her 81st birthday, Walker was admitted to a local Chicago Hospital and placed on a ventilator. For some time she had been battling emphysema.[4] In early September, rumors of Walker’s death had spread so wildly that she posted a message on her Facebook page stating: 'I'm still here no matter what you might have heard'.[citation needed] At the time, she was in ICU dealing with respiratory problems–a condition she battled for years, and kept her on oxygen. On Tuesday, September 7, Walker had a tracheostomy which doctors deemed a success, and she checked out of a Chicago hospital in late September and was admitted to RML specialty hospital for follow up care. She died on October 8, 2010[7] at 4:30 a.m.
Discography[edit]
Notable singles[edit]
- 'I'm Still Here'
- 'Please Be Patient with Me'
- 'I Can Go to God in Prayer'
- 'I Got a Feeling (Everything Will Be Alright)'
- 'The Best Is Yet to Come'
- 'Impossible Dream'
- 'Joy Will Come'
- 'God Is Our Creator'
- 'Work on Me'
- 'In Shady Green Pastures'
- 'Don't Let Nobody Turn You Around'
- 'When God Dips His Pin of Love in My Heart'
- 'If I Perish'
- 'Ain't Got Tired Yet'
- 'Since I Met Jesus'
- 'Lord Keep Me Day by Day'
- 'Mary Don't You Weep' Albertina Walker
- 'Remember Me'
- 'I Know the Lord Will Make a Way'
- 'I'm Willing'
- 'Show Some Sign'
- 'I Won't Be Back'
- 'Make It In'
Videography[edit]
Film and other appearances[edit]
- Leap of Faith – starring Steve Martin and Debra Winger
- Going Home to Gospel with Patti Labelle
- The Gospel Truth – Off-Broadway play
- The Evolution of Gospel
- The Gospel Legends
Television appearances[edit]
Walker appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America and The Tavis Smiley Show among others. Albertina Walker was a frequent guest on the nationally syndicated BET and Word television networks, Bobby Jones Gospel, Testify and Singsation.
References[edit]
- ^Johnson, Carla K. (October 8, 2010). ''Queen of Gospel' Albertina Walker dies at age 81'. Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 2012-10-25. Retrieved 2010-10-08.
- ^'Albertina Walker (1929-2010)'. www.imdb.com. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- ^Carpenter, Bil (2005). Uncloudy Days: The Gospel Music Encyclopedia. San Francisco: Backbeat Books. p. 426. ISBN9780879308414. OCLC60375463.
- ^ abReich, Howard (October 9, 2010). ''Queen of Gospel' led Caravan of stars'. Chicago Tribune. Chicago, IL. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- ^Deborah Evans Price, Dec. 9, 2006
- ^'NEA National Heritage Fellowships 2005'. www.arts.gov. National Endowment for the Arts. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
- ^Grimes, William (October 8, 2010). 'Albertina Walker, Soulful Gospel Singer, Dies at 81'. The New York Times. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
Further reading[edit]
- Heilbut, Anthony (1997). The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times (Updated and rev., 5th Limelight ed.). New York: Limelight Editions. ISBN0-87910-034-6. OCLC37476562.
- Boyer, Horace Clarence (1995). How Sweet The Sound: The Golden Age of Gospel. photography by Lloyd Yearwood. Washington, DC: Elliott and Clark. ISBN9781880216194. OCLC33254672.
- Viale, Gene D. (2010). I Remember Gospel: and I Keep On Singing. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse. ISBN978-1-4490-7681-8. OCLC610156616.
External links[edit]
- Albertina Walker on IMDb
- Albertina Walker at AllMusic
- Albertina Walker discography at Discogs
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Albertina_Walker&oldid=915100198'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Heavy hearts were lifted Friday with a celebration in memory of the Queen of Gospel, Albertina Walker. CBS 2’s Suzanne Le Mignot takes us inside the moving ceremony.
Family, friends and fellow musicians celebrated the life of Albertina Walker at a funeral Friday at West Point Baptist Church at 36th and Cottage Grove.
During her career, Walker recorded 71 albums and wrote more than 100 songs. At 22, she organized her own singing group, the Caravans. The surviving members, among them gospel great Shirley Ceasar, performed a musical tribute.
“She was my mentor. She treated me like I was her daughter. Because of Albertina, I am; she gave me a chance,” Caesar said.
Walker’s former business partner, Sasha Daltonn, said, “Albertina had a special expression. … When she was making a point, she’d say, ‘I’m gonna say it slow, so I can say it some more.’ So to borrow her expression, I’m gonna say it slow, so I can say it some more. She was the greatest!”
![Download Albertina Walker Funeral Program Download Albertina Walker Funeral Program](/uploads/1/2/5/8/125875817/747806291.jpg)
Walker faced discrimination during her career because of the color of her skin, but would go on to win numerous awards and perform in front of world leaders.
“I don’t think enough credit goes to people like her.” Gospel singer Tramaine Hawkins said. “She couldn’t even go to a restaurant and eat. She couldn’t even go to a hotel and I’m flying in first class now and I can go to any hotel I want.”
Among the numerous gospel greats who said their lives where shaped by Walker were those who cherished the lifelong bond they shared.
“It’s an emotional moment for me and I’m still collecting myself,” Walker’s friend Jacqueline Jackson said. “She was like a magnet, always investing her energy to make life better for so many people.”
The final tribute was left to none other than the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.
“As a young girl, I used to listen to and just lie on the floor by my record player, and listen to the Caravans,” Franklin said. “I’m so glad that I was weaned and brought up on the Caravans.”
Her legacy includes not only includes her body of legendary gospel tunes, but the Albertina Walker Scholarship Foundation, dedicated to helping young students studying the arts.