Walter Hawkins was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 gospel music

Gospel music

Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....

 singer, and a pastor. Hawkins was consecrated to the bishopic in 1992. He died at his home in Ripon, California, from pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...

.

Walter Hawkins was the brother of Edwin Hawkins

Edwin Hawkins

Edwin Hawkins is a Grammy Award-winning American gospel and R&B musician, pianist, choir master, composer and arranger. He is one of the originators of the urban contemporary gospel sound. He are best known for his arrangement of "Oh Happy Day" , which was included on the Songs of the Century list...

, Daniel Hawkins (Marcia), Feddie Hawkins Smith, Carol Hawkins and Lynette Hawkins-Stephens. Bishop Hawkins was married to Tramaine Hawkins, they had two children, a son Walter "Jamie" Hawkins, Jr., who is married to Myiia "Sunny" Davis-Hawkins, and a daughter Trystan Hawkins. Bishop Hawkins also had a granddaughter, Jahve Hawkins, and a grandson, Jamie Daniel Hawkins.

Bishop Hawkins started his career in one of his brother's chorales, "The Northern California State Youth Choir" of the Church of God in Christ

Church of God in Christ

The Church of God in Christ is a Pentecostal Holiness Christian denomination with a predominantly African-American membership. With nearly five million members in the United States and 12,000 congregations, it is the largest Pentecostal church and the fifth largest Christian church in the U.S....

. Later, he accompanied his brother Edwin and founded The Edwin Hawkins Singers. This collaborative effort produced the hit song "Oh Happy Day

Oh Happy Day

"Oh Happy Day" is a 1967 gospel music arrangement of an 18th century hymn. Recorded by the Edwin Hawkins Singers, it became an international hit in 1969, reaching US #4 and UK #2 on the pop charts...

", which became one of the first gospel songs to cross over onto mainstream music charts.

Walter Hawkins left The Edwin Hawkins Singers in the early 1970s to establish the Love Center Church in Oakland, California. He and his Love Center Choir had considerable success with their "Love Alive" series of recordings, which sold well over a million copies from the 1970s through the 1990s. "Love Alive IV", released in 1990, was #1 on the Billboard Gospel Album charts, where it stayed for 33 weeks. In all, Walter Hawkins produced and/or collaborated on 116 hit songs which were listed on the Billboard Gospel Music charts.

Walter Hawkins and his groups were frequent musical collaborators, and recorded with Van Morrison

Van Morrison

Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...

, Diahann Carroll, Sylvester (singer), Jeffrey Osborne

Jeffrey Osborne

Jeffrey Linton Osborne is an American funk and R&B musician, songwriter, lyricist, and former lead singer of the band, L.T.D.-Early life and career:...

, among many others.

Albums

• Do Your Best - Solo Album (1972)
• Love Alive - Love Center Choir (1975)
• Jesus Christ Is the Way - The Hawkins Family (Light, 1977)
• Love Alive 2 - Love Center Choir (Light, 1978)
• The Hawkins Family Live (Light, 1980)
• Gospel (Savoy, 1982
• I Feel Like Singing - Solo Album (Light, 1983)
• Love Alive 3 - Love Center Choir (Light, 1984)
• Special Gift - Hawkins Family (Light, 1988)
• Love Alive 4 - Love Center Choir (Malaco, 1990)
• New Dawning - Hawkins Family (Bellmark, 1996)
• Love Alive, Vol. 5: 25th Anniversary Reunion 1 - Love Center Choir (Interscope, 1998)
• Take Courage - Hawkins Family (Bellmark, 2000)
• A Song In My Heart - Solo Album (Coda/Red-Sony, 2005)

Compilation albums

• The Lord's Prayer (featuring various guest artists; duet with Tramaine Hawkins on the song, "Thy Kingdom Come") (Light, 1980)
• Only The Best (Light, 1990)
• Light Years (Polygram, 1995)
• The Hawkins Family Collection (Platinum, 1995)
• The Best of Love Alive (Light, 2002)
• Legends of Gospel (Light, 2002)
• Mega 3 Collection: Love Alive (Light, 2002)
• The Very Best of Walter Hawkins and the Hawkins Family (Artemis Gospel, 2005)

Filmography

• Gospel (1982)
• Oh Happy Day (1983)
• Love Alive, Vol. 4 (Malaco, 1991)
• Walter Hawkins & The Hawkins Family (Monterey Video, 1998)
• Love Alive, Vol. 5: 25th Anniversary Reunion, Vol. 1 (Interscope, 1998)
• Love Alive, Vol. 5: 25th Anniversary Reunion, Vol. 2 (Interscope, 1999)
• Song in My Heart (Coda, 2006)

Awards

• Walter Hawkins won three Dove Awards (awarded by the Gospel Music Association).
• He was nominated for nine Grammy awards
  Grammy Award
  A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
  
  , and won a 1981 Grammy Award
  Grammy Award
  A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
  
   in the category of Best Gospel Performance, Contemporary or Inspirational
  Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance, Contemporary
  The Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance, Contemporary was awarded from 1978 to 1983. From 1978 to 1982 it was titled the Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance Contemporary or Inspirational....
  
   for "The Lord's Prayer".
• He won two Stellar Awards
  Stellar Awards
  The Stellar Awards is the first Gospel Music Awards show in the country, honoring Gospel Music Artists, writers, and industry professionals for their contributions to the Gospel Music Industry. The Stellar Awards ranks high in status as the only Gospel Music television awards program syndicated in...
  
  in the categories of Traditional Male Vocalist of the Year and Traditional CD of the Year for his solo album A Song In My Heart.

External links

• Walter Hawkins biography at the Love Center website accessed July 12, 2010
• Walter Hawkins on the Billboard music charts accessed July 12, 2010
• Walter Hawkins death notice | Music inside