The Williams Brothers

Organization: The group was organized in 1960 by Leon “Pop” Williams who is the founder and father of The Williams Brothers. They were known as The Little Williams Brothers. As the group grew in talent, experience and performance, the name was later changed to The Sensational Williams Brothers. Today the group is simply called, The Williams Brothers.

All of the group members were born an reared in Mississippi in a little community called “Smithdale” which connects with two small counties named Franklin and Amite, about one hundred miles south of Jackson, MS. And all of the members came from very religious backgrounds.

Recording Success: The group recorded its first album in 1973 on The Songbird label, which included the instant hit, “Jesus Will Fix It”. Since then they have recorded eighteen (18) top ten albums in Billboard and Cashbox magazines, out of which came three (3) number one records and three (3) Grammy nominations. Their repertoire of hits include songs such as, “Jesus Will Never Say No”, “I Won’t Let Go My Faith”, “He’ll Understand”, “Sweep Around Your Own Front Door”, “The Goat”, “I’m Just A Nobody”, “Jesus Will Fix It”, “Cover Me”, “In A Very Big Way” and “Ship Like Mine”, to name a few. They also performed on The Winans Grammy award winning song, “Ain’t No Need To Worry”, featuring Anita Baker. In the month of April 1991 the group formed their own record label Blackberry Records which is the first black-owned and operated record label in Mississippi that has major distribution. Their first release on the label entitled “This Is Your Night” reached #4 on Billboard Magazine’s gospel chart. They were also nominated for a Grammy Award for this same album in the category of “Best Performance Group or Duo” (Traditional) 1991. In January 1995, their release entitled “In This Place”, which reached #1 on the Billboard charts, was also nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of “Best Soul Gospel Album” (Traditional) and won a Stellar Award for “Best Performance By A Group or Duo” (Traditional) 1995. Their latest album entitled “Still Standing” featuring Stevie Wonder on the song “Too Close”, released in May 1997, remained on the Billboard gospel for 12 months, and has sold over 125,000 units. This project was nominated for five (5) Stellar Awards in 1998, Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Group/Duo of the Year, Traditional Group/Duo of the Year, and Traditional Album of the Year.

They have been writing and arranging most of their music since 1970 and producing since 1979.

Prestigious Events: Black Expo, Operation Push, Budweiser Jazz Festivals, Gospel Music Workshop of America, Dove Awards, Kentucky’s Gospel Festival, McDonald’s Gospel Festival, National Council of Negro Women (Dorothy Heights, founder), B.R.E. Convention, New Orleans Jazz Festival, United Negro College Fund, etc.

T.V. Appearances: Soul Train Awards, Stellar Awards, Bobby Jones Gospel, CBS News, Living The Dream, A Tribute To Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), United Negro College Fund (UNCF), etc.

Videos: The group has made three concept videos and two live concert videos.

Venues Group has performed in: Madison Square Garden, Cobo Hall, Radio City Music Hall, Apollo Theatre, Disneyland, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Grand Ole Opry, Carnegie Hall, Front Row Theatre, Paramount Theatre and numerous colleges and universities across the U.S.

Artist Groups performed with: Denise Williams, Mighty Clouds of Joy, Luther Vandross, Phillip Bailey, The Mississippi Mass Choir, Maurice White, Andrae Crouch, Shirley Ceasar, James Cleveland, Al Green, Kool and The Gang, The Winans, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Patti LaBelle, The Hawkins Family, The Clark Sisters, Clifton Davis, Shirley Murdock, Sounds of Blackness and Amy Grant to name a few.

Award and Honours: Best Group (Traditional)-Stellar Awards 1986, Album of the Year (Traditional)-Stellar Awards 1987, Best Performance Group/Duo (Traditional)-Stellar Awards 1991, Best Performance Group or Duo (Traditional)-Stellar Awards 1995, and the Vision Award 1992.

The group’s hometown of Smithdale, MS., named a road in their honour-Williams Brother’s Road.