George Beverly Shea:

America's Beloved Gospel Singer

a spotlight article by

Mike Nappa

As a seven-year-old boy, little George Beverly Shea had no idea he’d grow up to become a gospel music legend. Back then, he only knew he loved music, enjoyed listening to his mother play piano and sing each morning, and was fascinated by the wonderful sounds he could bring to life on the harmonica his dad gave him. In fact, he would often sneak that harmonica to bed with him and play it under the covers!

More than eight decades later, Shea is a living legend in traditional Christian music. His booming baritone voice has sung classic hymns and southern gospel songs for over 220 million people in 80 countries. He’s won a Grammy award, sung for numerous American presidents, recorded 65 albums, and been inducted into the Gospel Music Association’s Gospel Music Hall of Fame.

Still, Shea is probably best known for his more than 50-year partnership with evangelist, Billy Graham. Back in 1943, twenty-one-year-old Graham was in the earliest stages of his preaching career. He heard George Beverly Shea on the radio in Chicago, and was so impressed he sought out the singer personally at the station. There he introduced himself and invited Shea to join him in presenting the gospel on another radio program. Shea accepted Graham’s invitation, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Referring to Shea as “America’s beloved gospel singer,” Graham noted in his best-selling autobiography, “I have sometimes said that I would feel lost getting up to preach if Bev were not there to prepare the way through an appropriate song. But I will always be grateful not only for his musical contributions to our Crusades, but also for his warm spirit and personal friendship over the years.”

Though now an octogenarian, Shea remains active with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and keeps his home in Montreat, North Carolina. In honor of his contribution to Christian music, the North Carolina Public Television Foundation recently created a tribute video called George Beverly Shea and Friends. Filmed in Montreat, it features a live concert of Shea in action again, along with a dozen or so of his contemporaries in southern gospel music, and plenty of memories shared about good times gone by.

When asked by a biographer how he’d like to be remembered, Shea had only this to say, “I hope people remember the simplicity of the songs, the thought-provoking message, and that I stayed on pitch.”