Naomi Davis Shelton (born Naomi Virginia Davis; October 14, 1942 – February 17, 2021) was an American

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

, blues, funk, and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

musician, who played

traditional black gospel Traditional Black gospel is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding African American Christian life, as well as (in terms of the varying music styles) to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular mu ...

, deep funk, northern soul and

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

styles of music. She started her music career, in 1958, after she graduated from high school in Alabama. Davis was the lead singer of The Gospel Queens from

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, later known as Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens.

Early life

Shelton was born Naomi Virginia Davis on October 14, 1942, in

Midway, Alabama Midway is a town located in eastern Bullock County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 421. Old Merritt School Margaret Elizabeth Merritt of Midway sold two acres for $5 to the State of Alabama in 1921 as a site f ...

, where she was the younger sister of Hattie Mae and Annie Ruth. She was raised in the church at Mount Coney Baptist Church, by her parents. They sang together, until the first one graduated from high school, eventually she would graduate in 1958, first going to Florida, then she settled in

, during 1963. She did the job of a maid by doing cleaning work at houses in Brooklyn, while she was singing at the Night Cap, during the evenings. She was married to Dennis Shelton.

Music career

She started professional singing right after she graduated from high school in 1958, with her first recording deal falling through in 2002 with Desco Records, after they liquidated. Shelton would eventually get a recording contract with Daptone Records, where she was the lead singer of The Gospel Queens, while they have released two albums. She appears as herself in the 2014 film,

Song One ''Song One'' is a 2014 American romantic drama film written and directed by Kate Barker-Froyland in her directorial debut. The film stars Anne Hathaway, Johnny Flynn, Ben Rosenfield, and Mary Steenburgen. In the film, Franny Ellis returns home ...

References

External links

''The Atlantic'' video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shelton, Naomi 1942 births 2021 deaths 20th-century African-American women singers African-American Christians Singers from Alabama Musicians from Brooklyn Songwriters from Alabama Songwriters from New York (state) Daptone Records artists People from Midway, Alabama African-American women songwriters 21st-century African-American women singers