Gospel singers/songwriters Bill and Gloria Gaither are known to millions. Since the 1950s they have written or performed over seven hundred songs. Among these are these well known gospel songs: Because He Lives, He Touched Me, There’s Something About That Name, and Let’s Just Praise The Lord.
Together they have won eight Grammy Awards and have been named the Gospel Music Association’s “Songwriter of the Year” eight times. In 2000 the American Society of Composer, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) named them the Christian Songwriters of the Century!
At a concert with the Nashville Choir in May, 2011, host for the evening, Shelia Walsh, said that Bill and Gloria Gaither write songs with fruit on all the branches. “Some songs are like fruit on the lowest branch so that a child can reach (understand) them. Other songs meet the listener at eye level helping us to see life exactly where we are. Then there are songs that are on the highest branches of the tree—these songs help us to look up and long for heaven.”
Bill and Gloria Gaither are also wonderful mentors for other musical artists. Bill founded his first gospel quartet in 1956, The Bill Gaither Trio. He married Gloria in 1962, and they became a powerful duo in writing music and lyrics. Their full-time career was launched in 1967.
Though highly successful, they still maintain their lives in Bill’s hometown in Alexandria, Indiana, in the same home they purchased as newlyweds. They have three grown children and five grandchildren. Throughout their career weekend-only tour performances have always been a top priority to maintain family time.
Next to the home is the Gaither Music compound, housing state-of-the-art studios. Their famous Homecoming videos, first made in 1991, are sometimes taped at these studios.
The Gaithers do not spend most of their profits on themselves. They have given $3 million to Anderson University and set up a $2.2 million Gospel Music Trust Fund to help aging musicians who have no retirement savings.
To the Gaithers, Christian music is about giving. Bill Gaither says “Our calling is not just making music…but communicating the reality of Christ. If we have done anything right over the years, I hope we have built bridges where people could connect with God and with each other.”
They surely have used their platform to spread the Word and proclaim the saving grace of our Savior.