Albertina Walker
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Albertina Walker | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Albertina Walker |
Also known as | Tina, Queen of Gospel Music |
Born | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | August 29, 1929
Died | October 8, 2010 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | (aged 81)
Genres | Gospel |
Occupation(s) | Singer, composer, producer, actress |
Instrument(s) | Vocals |
Years active | 1940–2010 |
Labels | Malaco Records Savoy Records Benson Records Word Records A&M Records Scepter Records Hob Records |
Website | albertinawalker.org |
Albertina Walker ([1] was an American gospel singer, songwriter, actress, and humanitarian.
August 29, 1929 – October 8, 2010)Early years
Walker was born in
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. 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
In the early 1950s, Walker founded her own Gospel music group
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.[5]
Walker recorded a reunion album with her group The Caravans entitled Paved the Way, which was released by
Legacy
Walker is featured in 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". She 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
In 1988, she founded The Albertina Walker Scholarship Foundation for the Creative and Performing Arts, which offers financial assistance to college students in the form of scholarships to further their education in the field of music.
Death
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] 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]
Discography
Notable singles
- "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"
- "Remember Me"
- "I Know the Lord Will Make a Way"
- "I'm Willing"
- "Show Some Sign"
- "I Won't Be Back"
- "Make It In"
- "Jesus Will Fix It"
Videography
Film and other appearances
- 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
Walker appeared on
Awards and honors
Walker earned many awards and honors over her six decades of music ministry. Among them, a 1995
References
- ^ Johnson, Carla K. (October 8, 2010). "'Queen of Gospel' Albertina Walker dies at age 81". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
- ^ "Albertina Walker (1929-2010)". www.imdb.com. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- OCLC 60375463.
- ^ a b Reich, Howard (October 9, 2010). "'Queen of Gospel' led Caravan of stars". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, IL. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- ^ Bush, John. "Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
- ^ Deborah Evans Price, December 9, 2006.
- ^ Grimes, William (October 8, 2010). "Albertina Walker, Soulful Gospel Singer, Dies at 81". The New York Times. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- ^ "NEA National Heritage Fellowships 2005". www.arts.gov. National Endowment for the Arts. Archived from the original on May 21, 2020. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
Further reading
- OCLC 37476562.
- OCLC 33254672.
- Viale, Gene D. (2010). I Remember Gospel: and I Keep On Singing. Bloomington, IN: OCLC 610156616.
External links
- Official website
- Albertina Walker at IMDb
- Albertina Walker at AllMusic
- Albertina Walker discography at Discogs