Wendy Bagwell and the Sunliters was a

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 ...

music and comedy trio that was inducted into the

Gospel Music Association The Gospel Music Association (GMA) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1964 for the purpose of supporting and promoting the development of all forms of gospel music. As of 2011, there are about 4,000 members worldwide. The GMA's membership co ...

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 ...

in 2001.

Personnel

The group originally consisted of

Wendy Bagwell Wendell Lee "Wendy" Bagwell (May 16, 1925 – June 13, 1996) was the founding member and leader of the Southern gospel music and comedy trio Wendy Bagwell and the Sunliters. Early years The son of Cajer and Arza Bagwell, Bagwell was born in Cha ...

, Geraldine Terry (later known professionally as Jerri Morrison), and Georgia Jones; Jones was succeeded initially by Sandy Garvin and later by Dot Pressley, Virginia Williams, and, ultimately, by "Little Jan" Buckner, who married Bagwell's adopted nephew Ronnie Buckner.W.K. McNeil, ''Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music''
21 - 22 (2005). The Bagwell-Morrison-Buckner trio worked together for 33 years and recorded approximately 40 albums. Buckner is the only surviving member of the trio.

Achievements

The group was the first Southern gospel group to appear at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

and the first to tour Europe, in 1965. Their 1970 comedy monologue, "Here Come the Rattlesnakes" (sometimes known as "The Rattlesnake Song", although it contains no singing or music), an account of their performance at a small church in

Harlan, Kentucky Harlan is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Harlan County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,745 at the 2010 census, down from 2,081 at the 2000 census. Harlan is one of three Kentucky county seats to share its name w ...

that handled rattlesnakes, was the first certifiable million seller in Southern gospel history.Wendy Bagwell
(visited June 29, 2008). It eventually sold more than 2 million copies.

References

Southern gospel performers American gospel musical groups {{US-southern-gospel-stub