- Born
- Died
- Nicknames
- Tina
- The Queen of Gospel Music
- Albertina Walker was born on August 28, 1929 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Leap of Faith (1992), Ali the Fighter (1973) and Kurt Carr Project: One Church (2005). She died on October 8, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
- Contralto singing voice
- Good friends with Mahalia Jackson and Dorothy Norwood.
- She was awarded the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album for "Songs of the Church; Live in Memphis".
- She was inducted into the 2001 Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
- She was honored for her contributions to gospel music in a White House ceremony by President George W. Bush in Washington, D.C. (2002).
- She began singing at four years old with the youth choir of the West Point Baptist Church under the direction of Pete Williams. She would later perform with the Williams Singers. At 17 years old, she was singing with Robert Anderson and His Gospel Caravan with Elyse Yancey, Nellie Grace Daniels and Ora Lee Hopkins. She formed the Caravans in 1951 and remained with them until 1970 when she went solo.
- I had seen Roberta Martin and Mahalia Jackson. I wanted to stand up before audiences and deliver the message, win souls for Christ. I wanted to touch dying men and slipping women.
- [on not retiring from singing] I must say, I'm still here, and believe me when I say it, it's been a wonderful life serving the Lord and His people through song.
- [on touring churches] We would put five to six dollars in the gas tank, drive all the way to New York or Mississippi. We would pack into one car, nobody had a problem with it either. We would probably make $150 singing, but we would share our rewards and the money would pay a lot of bills back then.
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