Marion Williams
| Marion Williams | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 29, 1927 Miami, Florida, U.S. |
| Died | July 2, 1994 (aged 66) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Genres | Gospel |
| Instruments | Vocal |
Marion Williams (August 29, 1927 – July 2, 1994) was an American gospel singer.
Marion Williams was born in Miami, Florida, to a religiously devout mother and musically inclined father. She left school when she was nine years old to help support the family, and worked as a maid, a nurse, and in factories and laundries. She began singing in front of audiences while young. As was common in the area, Williams learned African-American blues and jazz, alongside Caribbean calypso. Poverty caused Williams to leave school at fourteen to work with her mother at a laundry, although she eventually graduated from Pacific Union College in 1987. She sang at church and on street corners, inspired by a wide range of musicians, including Sister Rosetta Tharpe and the Smith Jubilee Singers. She stayed with gospel in spite of pressure to switch to popular blues tunes or the opera.
In 1946, while visiting a friend in Philadelphia, Williams happened to sing before an audience that included Clara and Gertrude Ward. They recognized her talent and offered her a job. A year later, she became part of the Famous Ward Singers. Her growling, hands-on-the-hips vocal style made her one of the group's undisputed stars.
In 1958, she and other members of the Ward group formed the Stars of Faith. In 1965, Williams began her solo career. For the next 15 years, she toured the United States, Africa and the West Indies.
In 1992, critic and music historian Dave McGee, writing in The Rolling Stone Album Guide, said "One will come away from her recordings believing that she was nothing less than the greatest singer ever".
Williams was invited to join the Ward Singers when they heard her singing during a visit to a close friend in Philadelphia in 1946. Williams did so in 1947, staying with them for eleven years. Her first recording with the group was How Far Am I from Canaan (1948), followed by the breakthrough Surely God Is Able, which launched Williams and the rest of the group into super-stardom. Their concerts were mobbed by frenzied fans.
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