Willie Banks

Gospel legend Willie Banks was born in Raymond, MS, where he started singing at age five; a alumnus of acts ranging from the Jackson Southernaires to the Flying Clouds to the Trumpets of Joy, he formed his own group, the Southernaires, in 1968. Upon signing to the Peacock label, they debuted with the album Heaven Must Be a Beautiful Place; in 1972, however, Banks dissolved the group, forming the Messengers and signing on with the small Nashville label HSE; the group's albums, including God's Goodness, For the Wrong I've Done, Mother Why and Still in Charge, were mainstays of t...