The Blind Boys of Alabama have been honoring life, music, and the Lord with their soulful gospel singing since the group formed at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in 1939. In a career spanning seven decades, the past ten years have brought them more well-deserved honors from the music community and the greater public than perhaps ever before. In the past eight years alone, the group has been awarded seven Grammys (including 2009's Lifetime Achievement Award) and has been accompanied on stage and on record by some of popular music's most beloved artists. In 2004, the Blind Boys collaborated with Ben Harper for the album There Will Be a Light, and their most recent release, 2009's Duets, features Lou Reed, Toots Hibbert, and Bonnie Raitt, among others.
In February, the group performed at the White House for President Obama and the first lady alongside other honorees including Bob Dylan and Smokey Robinson. Although five of the seven founding members are deceased, the soul remains the same. The group continues to tour the States and abroad led by founding member Jimmy Carter, a solid rock in a world gone mad. Can they get an amen?
