Caesar, Shirley

October 13, 1938

Born in Durham, North Carolina, gospel singer Shirley Caesar began singing as a child, inspired by her father, "Big Jim" Caesar, a singer in the Just Come Four gospel quartet. Nicknamed "Baby Shirley," she made her first recording, "I'd Rather Have Jesus," in 1951, and sang throughout the South during her teenage years. In 1958 she began to gain national recognition as a soloist with the Caravan Singers, which included Albertina Walker and Inez Andrews. Although at the time a Baptist, Caesar adopted the "sanctified" style of gospel singing, characterized by fast tempos and extensive improvisation. Recordings from this period include "I've Been Running for Jesus a Long Time, and I'm Not Tired Yet" (1958), "Hallelujah, It's Done" (1961), and "I Won't Be Back" (1962). In 1966 she left the Caravan Singers and formed the Caesar Singers. She continued to perform and record, but her style became less energetic and ornamental. Instead, she favored the "song and sermonette" approach then popular with gospel singers, performing songs such as "Don't Drive Your Mama Away" (1969), "No Charge" (1978), and "Faded Roses" (1980).

Caesar continued to enjoy success in the 1990s, earning five Grammy Awards during this period. In 1997 she released an album titled A Miracle in Harlem that was recorded live at the First Corinthian Baptist Church in Harlem. That same year she published her autobiography, Shirley Caesar: The Lady, the Melody, the Word. In 2000 she released You Can Make It, a compilation album. In 2002 she released Hymns.

In addition to performing and recording, Caesar, the winner of numerous Grammy Awards and seventeen Dove Awards, the Gospel Music Association's highest tribute, has had several other careers. She received a B.S. in business education from Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, and went on to serve from 1987 to 1991 on the Durham City Council. She then became pastor of the Mt. Calvary Word of Faith Church in Raleigh, as well as president of Shirley Caesar Outreach Ministries, an emergency social services organization. Her husband, Harold T. Williams, is bishop of the Mt. Calvary Holy Churches of America, a small African-American holiness denomination.

See also Gospel Music

Bibliography

"The First Lady of Gospel." Ebony (September 1977): 98–102.

Heilbut, Tony. The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1975.

"Putting the Gospel Truth into Politics." Ebony (December 1988): 66–70.

"Shirley Caesar." In Contemporary Musicians. Vol. 40. Detroit, Mich.: Gale, 2002.

"Shirley Caesar, the Queen of Gospel." American Gospel (March-April 1992): 18–27.

kathy white bullock (1996)
Updated by publisher 2005