Blind Boys of Alabama

More than a gospel institution, Blind Boys of Alabama are a cultural force that has collaborated or influenced a wide array of artists like Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Amadou & Mariam, Bonnie Raitt, and Ben Harper. With six GRAMMY Awards (including one for lifetime achievement) and a sumptuous repertoire of soaring anthems, the group remains a gospel standard bearer that has also crossed over to embrace secular songs.

Formed by a group of elementary students at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in the late 1930s who sang for pocket change, the quintet made a series of fine recordings in the post-war years that assured their place in the gospel pantheon, and they were an indispensable part of the soundtrack to the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.