Shirley Caesar is one of the world’s most visible gospel singers. Her work has earned her 11 Grammys, as well as many other awards, and the titles “the Queen of Gospel Music” and “the First Lady of Gospel Music.” The tenth of 12 children, Caesar was born on October 13, 1938 Caesar was born in Durham, North Carolina. Her father James was a tobacco worker who was well-known in the Carolinas as the lead singer in a gospel quartet, the Just Came Four. Caesar began singing with the group at age ten.

Caesar’s career began in 1951 when she was only 12 years old. In 1943 at the age of five Caesar started singing and performing as “Baby Shirley” throughout North Carolina and South Carolina. After finishing Hillside High School in Durham in 1956, she enrolled in North Carolina College. She has said that she got the call to God’s work in the middle of a typing test. However, it was not until Caesar was 19 that she began singing with the celebrated Albertina Walker and the ensemble Walker directed, The Caravans.

Caesar’s contribution was an energetic and dramatic approach where she would act out the songs and walk among the congregation, engaging the members directly. Her forte was the sermon in the middle of songs that addressed the subject of the song and expounded on its theme. She exhorted the listeners to reach out to God and to take the example of Jesus. On the subject of motherhood, she was particularly effective.

In 1961, Caesar left the Caravans to preach as a full-time evangelical and established the Mount Calvary Word of Faith Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. Along the way, Caesar found a male counterpart in the singer James Cleveland and they made several records together. They became known as the “King and Queen of Gospel.” Caesar formed her own group in 1966 called the Caesar Singers, but she would reunite with the Caravans and the Reverend Cleveland occasionally throughout the years. Caesar’s won a Grammy Award for the song “Put Your Hand in the Hand of the Man from Galilee” in 1971.

It was the first of her 12 Grammy Awards. She would go on to record 40 albums, many compilations, and three gospel-style musicals. Among her numerous honors are 17 Dove Awards, the Gospel Music Association’s highest tribute. She was inducted into the Gospel Hall of Fame in 1982. She was the first female gospel artist to perform at Harvard University. Over the years, Caesar has tried out many different styles of music, while keeping her message of faith and worship consistent. But while her catalog is varied, there is a consistency to it that ensures her fans will almost always be pleased by any new recordings.