(Bishop Walter Hawkins performs at the White House during Black Music Month in June 2007) Gospel music icon Bishop Walter Hawkins passed away at his home in Ripon, CA today. A singer, songwriter, producer and musician, Hawkins had a 2-year battle with pancreatic cancer. Hawkins was a contemporary gospel forerunner who rose to prominence as a member of the Edwin Hawkins Singers in the early seventies. The influence the Grammy Award winning Hawkins has had on gospel music history is worthy of volumes. His "Love Alive" album series, consisting of songs recorded from the 70's to the 90's, yielded numerous cuts that will never get old including "Marvelous," "Going Up Yonder", "Changed," "Be Grateful," and "Thank You." Artists from various genres did re-makes of his songs from the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin and American Idol Champ Ruben Studdard to Vicki Winans. His sleek tenor voice possessed authority and...
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