Bill Gaither (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.

Early life

Bill Gaither was born in Alexandria, Indiana in 1936 to George and Lela Gaither. He formed his first group the Bill Gaither Trio in 1956 while a college student at Anderson College, to which he had transferred after one year at Taylor University. He graduated from Anderson in 1959 with a major in English and a minor in music, after which he worked as an English teacher. He married the former Gloria Sickal in 1962. He tried for a few years to manage both a music career and his full-time teaching job, but he quit his teaching job in 1967 and worked full-time in the Christian music industry. He recorded his breakthrough song "He Touched Me" in 1964.
Gaither was influenced by Southern gospel singers such as Jake Hess and Hovie Lister and by groups such as the Speers, the Statesmen, and the Happy Goodmans.

Songwriter

Gaither and his wife, Gloria, have written many songs including: "The Longer I Serve Him," "Because He Lives," "The King Is Coming," "Sinner Saved By Grace", "Something Beautiful," "He Touched Me", "It Is Finished," "Jesus, There's Something About That Name" "I'm Gonna Sing", and "Let's Just Praise The Lord." His songs have been performed by Christian artists, country singers and pop artists.
The Gaithers have even delved into writing Christian music for children over the years, with their most notable song being "I Am a Promise". They have performed that song on the Billy Graham crusade and around the world.
Gloria Gaither often writes the lyrics while Bill writes the music, although composing is usually a collaborative project between the two. As of 2005, they had composed 600 songs and by 2012 that number had increased to over 700.

Performer

Since Gaither first began singing with the Bill Gaither Trio in the 1950s, he has constantly been performing. The trio originally consisted of Bill, his brother Danny Gaither and his sister Mary Ann Gaither. In about 1964 Bill's wife, Gloria, took the place of Mary Ann. The trio sang traditional gospel songs along with original compositions by the Gaithers that gave them a more contemporary feel.
Gaither has a high bass voice, and often sang while playing piano with the Bill Gaither Trio.

Entrepreneurship and influence

Gaither founded the Gaither Music Company, which includes the functions of record company, concert booking, television production, copyright management, retail store, recording studio and telemarketing for the Gaither organization reside. He also runs a retail center called Gaither Family Resources.
Included as part of the company is Live Bait Productions, an animation company run by Benjy Gaither, one of Bill's three children.

Record labels

In the 1980s, Gaither was involved with Paragon Associates, which formed a partnership with Zondervan to buy Benson Records, which is now part of Sony BMG Music Entertainment.
In 1994, Gaither and entrepreneur Leland Boren founded the Brentwood, Tennessee-based Chapel Hill Music Group, which later changed its name to Spring Hill Music Group. It was created as part of the Gaither Music Company to handle in-house productions, including the Gaither Homecoming series.

Industry Influence

Gaither has been a father figure and career booster to many younger performers in the Contemporary Christian music industry, while helping to prolong the careers of those who came before him for example by producing Homecoming recordings and tours. The following are all CCM artists who either got their start or became popular while touring with the Gaithers: Mark Lowry, Michael W. Smith, Carman, Sandi Patty, Steve Green, Don Francisco, Amy Grant, Michael English, Jonathan Pierce, Karla Worley, and Cynthia Clawson.
He has maintained the Gaither Vocal Band with a variety of singers through the years, including Gary McSpadden, Steve Green, Lee Young, Jon Mohr, Larnelle Harris, Michael English, Lemuel Miller, Jim Murray, Mark Lowry, Terry Franklin, Buddy Mullins, Jonathan Pierce, Guy Penrod, David Phelps, Russ Taff, Marshall Hall, Wes Hampton, Adam Crabb, Todd Suttles and Reggie Smith. Guy Penrod and Mark Lowry were the members of the Gaither Vocal Band with the longest tenure besides Bill Gaither himself. Guy Penrod was with the group from 1995 to 2008 and Mark Lowry from 1988 to 2001. It was announced in January 2009 that Mark Lowry, Michael English and David Phelps were rejoining the group; at the same time the announcement was made that Guy Penrod and Marshall Hall were leaving to pursue a solo career.
Gaither's Homecoming tours, which started in 1991, brought together major stars of the southern gospel and CCM industry, sparking a revival of the genres. The tours have sold more than 1.1 million tickets across the world, and have included such notable venues as the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. Pollstar listed the tour as selling more tickets in 2004 than Elton John, Fleetwood Mac or Rod Stewart. Lynda Randle, The Isaacs, Russ Taff, the Hoppers, Jessy Dixon and many more have performed on the tours.

Personal life

Bill and Gloria live in Alexandria, Indiana, and have three grown children.

Discography

Gaither Trio

Solo

Homecoming Series

Awards and honors

Grammy Awards