Henry Thaxton Slaughter (January 9, 1927 – November 13, 2020) was an American

Southern gospel Southern gospel music is a genre of Christian music. Its name comes from its origins in the southeastern United States. Its lyrics are written to express either personal or a communal faith regarding biblical teachings and Christian life, as ...

pianist and singer-songwriter. He won five

Dove Awards A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Award ...

, and was inducted into the

Gospel Music Hall of Fame The Gospel Music Hall of Fame, created in 1972 by the Gospel Music Association, is a Hall of Fame dedicated exclusively to recognizing meaningful contributions by individuals and groups in all forms of gospel music. Inductees This is an incompl ...

. Since the 1940s, he worked with such memorable groups as the Stamps-Ozark Quartet,

The Weatherford Quartet The Weatherfords (also Weatherford Quartet and Weatherford Trio) is an American southern gospel music vocal group. The Weatherfords were formed by husband and wife Earl Weatherford and Lily Weatherford, who began singing together in the mid-1 ...

(1958–61),

The Imperials The Imperials are an American Christian music group that has been active for over 55 years. Originating as a southern gospel quartet, the innovative group would become pioneers of contemporary Christian music in the 1960s. There have been many ...

(1964–66), and since the 1970s as Henry and Hazel Slaughter, including numerous appearances with Bill Gaither, the Gaither Praise Gatherings, and the

Gaither Homecoming ''Gaither Homecoming'' is the name applied to a series of videos, music recordings and concerts, which are organized, promoted and usually presented by Christian music songwriter and impresario Bill Gaither. To date, the ''Gaither Homecoming'' t ...

series.

Biography

Slaughter was born on a tobacco farm near

Roxboro, North Carolina Roxboro is a city and the county seat of Person County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 8,362 at the 2010 census. The city is north of Durham and is a part of the four-county Durham–Chapel Hill Metropolitan Statistical A ...

, to parents Moses "Chummie" and Lila Slaughter. At the age of seven Slaughter was able to take piano lessons. Until then, he had health issues, including a heart murmur and

scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as Scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'' a Group A streptococcus (GAS). The infection is a type of Group A streptococcal infection (Group A strep). It most commonly affects childr ...

. After graduating from high school with honors, he attended the Stamps-Baxter School of Music in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

. After a few months there, he was called to join the Army in World War II. In the 1940s, soon after being released from the Army, he was asked to join the Ozark Quartet as a singer. Six months later, he became the piano player for the group. Along the way, he wrote numerous songs that are considered gospel classics, including "What a Precious Friend is He," "Lonely Mile", "

If The Lord Wasn't Walking By My Side ''How Great Thou Art'' is the ninth studio album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released by RCA Victor in February 1967. ''How Great Thou Art'' is a gospel album with slow numbers on one side, and fast-paced numbers on the fli ...

" (recorded by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

, on ''

How Great Thou Art "How Great Thou Art" is a Christian hymn based on an original Swedish hymn entitled "" written in 1885 by Carl Boberg (1859–1940). The English version of the hymn and its title are a loose translation by the English missionary Stuart K. Hine f ...

''), and "I've Never Loved Him Better Than Today." In 1965, the Imperials released a full album of his songs, called ''Slaughter Writes - Imperials Sing''.

Personal life

Slaughter married Hazel Myers in

Laurel, Mississippi Laurel is a city in and the second county seat of Jones County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 17,161. It is located northeast of Ellisville, the first county seat, which contains the first coun ...

, on December 22, 1952. He and Hazel lived in Tennessee. He continued to write his internationally acclaimed "I Remember" column for MyBestYears.com, featuring precious memories of the people and places during the past seven decades on the road as one of Gospel music's premier keyboard artists. Henry Slaughter is a cousin of

Enos Slaughter Enos Bradsher Slaughter (April 27, 1916 – August 12, 2002), nicknamed "Country", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) right fielder. He played for 19 seasons on four major league teams from 1938 to 1942 and 1946 to 1959. He is noted prima ...

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

baseball player and member of MLB Hall Of Fame. Slaughter died from complications of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

on November 13, 2020, at the age of 93.

Book

His autobiography, ''In Search of the Pearl of Great Price'' , written with Darryl Hicks, was published in 1980.

Awards and honors

*1996: Inducted into the Southern Gospel Piano Roll of Honor *1973–77:

GMA Dove Award A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awards ...

for Instrumentalist of the Year *2006: Inducted into

Southern Gospel Music Association The Southern Gospel Music Association (''SGMA'') is a non-profit corporation formed as an association of southern gospel music singers, songwriters, fans, and industry workers. Membership is acquired and maintained through payment of annual dues. T ...

's Hall Of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slaughter, Henry 1927 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American pianists American autobiographers American gospel singers American male singers Gospel music pianists Singers from North Carolina People from Roxboro, North Carolina Songwriters from North Carolina Southern gospel performers American male pianists 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Tennessee