700 songs Together they have written more than 700 songs, created hundreds of award-winning recordings and a dozen timeless musicals that have been sung for decades. Gloria also traveled with the Bill Gaither Trio for twenty years before she turned to her graduate work in literature.

81 years (March 4, 1942)Gloria Gaither / Age

87 years (March 28, 1936)Bill Gaither / Age

Bill Gaither's valentine is his wife, Gloria, "the love of my life" whom he married in 1962.

Fanny J. Crosby Frances Jane van Alstyne (née Crosby; March 24, 1820 – February 12, 1915), more commonly known as Fanny J. Crosby, was an American mission worker, poet, lyricist, and composer. She was a prolific hymnist, writing more than 8,000 hymns and gospel songs, with more than 100 million copies printed.

Fanny J. Crosby This article looks at the life and works of Fanny J. Crosby, who is probably the most prolific hymnist of all times, writing over 8,000 hymns, despite being blind since infancy.

Christian One of the largest independent Christian music companies in the world and a household name for millions of fans, Gaither Music Group is known worldwide for its award-winning and top-selling recordings, including the Gaither Gospel Series, of which 133 products have been certified gold, platinum or multi-platinum.

He got his start, musically, in the Church of the Nazarene and was later associated with the Church of God of Anderson, Ind. His melodies and his lyrics would eventually be embraced by American Protestants of all stripes -- and plenty of Catholics, as well. "Bill Gaither is a legend in Christian music.

A Collection of Songs Written by Bill Gaither

• I Believe in a Hill Called Mt. Calvary. 3:27.
• Because He Lives. 3:48.
• I Just Feel Like Something Good is About to Happen. 3:47.
• He Touched Me. 3:01.
• The Difference is in Me. 2:54.
• Sinner Saved by Grace. 4:51.
• Lord, Send Your Angels. 4:38.
• I Came to Praise the Lord. 3:49.

Key takeaways from Gospel Music Association research 68 percent of Americans listened to Christian music in the past month. 93 percent of African-Americans, or more than 38 million people, listened to gospel radio in the past year.

The golden age of gospel: Black gospel music reached its popular peak in the decades surrounding World War II. Vibrant gospel scenes emerged in cities touched by the Great Migration (the Black American emigration from the South to the North) - including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles.

Christian hymnody derives from the singing of psalms in the Hebrew Temple. The earliest fully preserved text (c. 200 ce or earlier) is the Greek “Phos hilarion” (“Go, Gladsome Light,” translated by the 19th-century American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow).