Sherman Andrus (born June 23, 1942) is an American gospel singer, who is probably best known as the man who broke the "color barrier" by becoming the first African-American lead singer of a mainstream Christian music group (

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 ...

). He has been a very prolific artist who has been involved in one way or another with forty gospel albums to date.http://www.shermanandrus.com/Biography2.html, paragraph 1. Retrieved June 17, 2008.

Biography

Andrus began in gospel music by singing with his mother's gospel group in his boyhood hometown of

Mermentau, Louisiana Mermentau is a village in Acadia Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 661 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Crowley Micropolitan Statistical Area. History In the last quarter of the 18th century, there was an Atakapa chief ...

.http://www.shermanandrus.com/Biography2.html, paragraph 4. Retrieved June 17, 2008. His next step came with a band called COGICs named after the denomination of the church that the band's founder,

Andrae Crouch Andrae, Andræ (Danish) or Andrä is a surname and given name, which is a variant of Andreae, itself a patronymic (via the Latin genitive case) from the personal name Andreas. Notable persons with this name include: Surname * Ahmed-Tobias Andrä ...

, attended (

Church of God in Christ The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is a Holiness–Pentecostal Christian denomination, and the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States. Although an international and multi-ethnic religious organization, it has a predominantly Bl ...

). Andrus continued his association with Crouch as he formed the popular

contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...

act Andrae Crouch and the Disciples in 1964. That group would not only gain notoriety within the gospel music field for merging funkier rhythms with the gospel message but a measure of fame outside of gospel fandom with an appearance on late night television's ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

''. Andrus would tour with the group through 1970. Andrus joined

in February 1972, replacing the departing Greg Gordon. He recorded as co-lead singer along with Terry Blackwood for their albums ''Imperials'' (1972),''Imperials LIVE'' (1973),''Follow the Man with the Music'' (1974),Grammy winning ''No Shortage'' (1975), and ''Just Because'' (1976) before joining Blackwood in a new duo Andrus, Blackwood and Company. That pairing would release six albums from 1977 to 1984. Andrus began a solo career in 1986 which continues today. In 1997 he joined the tour Elvis: The Concert, sponsored by Elvis Presley Enterprises, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Elvis's death. Andrus and other original musicians and backing singers appeared alongside a live recording of Presley to attempt to mimic a 1970s era live Presley appearance. On April 2, 1998, Sherman Andrus was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, both as a member of The Imperials as well as a founding member of Andrae Crouch And The Disciples. Sherman studied music at Southern University, now resides in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

, Oklahoma with his wife Winnie. Their son, Sherman Jr., died on August 28, 2013, and was survived by his wife, Mary; their son, Patrick Sherman; and daughter, Samantha. In April 2002 Sherman joined with longtime friend, Lonny Bingle, to form Andrus and Bingle. Together they have written all of the songs on both of their releases with the most current, "A Servant's Heart," in 2013. In September 2016 they will be doing a "Live" album benefitting the Youth and Police Initiative in Spokane, Washington. They are currently touring and writing music for their fourth album entitled "Seize the Moment" scheduled for release in 2017.

Partial discography

Sources:Powell, Mark Allan. (2002) Hendrickson Publishers, Inc: Peabody, MA, 1st ed. . P. 39 "Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music" * 1973: ''I've Got Confidence'' (Impact) * 1976: ''Soon Coming'' (Shalom) * 1978: ''How The Years Pass By'' (Shalom) * 1982: ''Revisited'' (Christian World) * 1988: ''Caution To the Wind'' (Amethyst) * 1993: ''Seize The Moment'' (Exodus Records) * 1994: ''Live: Hit Me Band'' (Exodus Records) * 2003: ''Merry Christmas From Sherman Andrus'' * 2002: ''Think Upon These Things'' – Andrus and Bingle * 2013: ''A Servant's Heart'' – Andrus and Bingle * 2017: ''LIVE'' – Andrus and Bingle

Video

*1987: ''Toymaker's Dream'' (soundtrack) *1999: ''He Touched Me – The Gospel Music of Elvis Presley'' *2002: ''New Orleans Homecoming''; solo on " Precious Lord, Take My Hand" *2002: ''Let Freedom Ring'' "A Few Good Men" *2006: ''Elvis Lives: The 25th Anniversary Concert'' (recorded 2002)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrus, Sherman People from Mermentau, Louisiana Musicians from Honolulu African-American Christians American Pentecostals African-American musicians Living people American performers of Christian music 1942 births Christians from Louisiana 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people