home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- <text id=94TT0927>
- <title>
- Jul. 18, 1994: Died:Marion Williams
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1994
- Jul. 18, 1994 Attention Deficit Disorder
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- MILESTONES, Page 15
- </hdr>
- <body>
- <p> DIED. MARION WILLIAMS, 66, influential gospel singer; of vascular
- disease; in Philadelphia. In life she sang praises to her God.
- But last week the world of music sang its praises to Williams,
- the greatest gospel singer of her generation and a performer
- who crossed over to a worldwide audience by sheer dint of her
- gifts as a vocalist and innovator. Born in Miami to a butcher/stevedore/music
- teacher father and a devoutly religious mother, Williams began
- singing when she was three. In 1947 she joined the Clara Ward
- Singers and swiftly became the group's star. In 1959 she formed
- the Stars of Faith before going solo in the '60s. Known for
- vocal pyrotechnics, including octave-spanning leaps into falsetto
- that inspired rocker Little Richard, Williams was an eclectic
- and canny stylist whose influences ranged from blues to folk
- to even calypso music. She recorded 10 albums and sang in the
- movies Fried Green Tomatoes and Mississippi Masala. Last year
- Williams became the first singer to be awarded a MacArthur "genius"
- grant.
- </p>
- </body>
- </article>
- </text>
-
-