Hezekiah Walker Inducted in Gospel Music Hall of Fame
May 4, 2016
By Hasan James
I am sure that I can be a bit biased when it comes to the ministry of Hezekiah Walker, as I have been under his tutelage for 21 years. I was first introduced to his music in the mid-eighties when my church choir would sings songs like “The Lord Will Make A Way Somehow” and “I Can’t Forget”. In 1995 I was fortunate enough to join the Love Fellowship Crusade Choir and as we traveled the country and certain parts of the world every weekend for years, I saw the firsthand the impact that Hezekiah Walker and Love Fellowship had.
However, the story of Hezekiah Walker doesn’t seem to end because he is one of a few artists who is still as relevant today as he was in the 90’s. Can you think of an artist who is still giving us Top 10 hits just as they were in 1986? Hezekiah Walker doesn’t only have songs, he has anthems. “I’ll Make It”, “Clean Inside”, “I Need You To Survive”, “Souled Out”, “Every Praise” and the future classic “Better”. Have we forgotten about his collection of LIVE albums that he was hitting the industry with in the 90’s, LIVE in Toronto (which is a classic and considered his best album to date), LIVE in Atlanta at Morehouse College (First Grammy® Award), LIVE in New York and LIVE in London. Hezekiah Walker has revolutionized the choir sound and after 31 years, he shows no signs of slowing down. To see Hezekiah Walker and Love Fellowship LIVE is an experience like no other and he has been all over the world preaching and singing the unadulterated word of the Lord. This is why this induction is appropriate. Congratulations Bishop Hezekiah Xzavier Walker! You are Gospel Music royalty. The Gospel Music Hall of Fame is on Tuesday, May 10th in Nashville.
About Hezekiah Walker
Hezekiah Walker catapulted into recognition in 1985 for his singing ability with the Grammy® Award-winning Love Fellowship Crusade Choir. In 1994, he became thethe visionary, founder and Bishop of the Love Fellowship Choir (LFC) Bishop of the Love Fellowship Tabernacle. The messages were, and still are, so hardcore that the rap world responded to the realness of it and deemed him the “Pastor of Hip Hop.” He is the Presiding Prelate of Love Fellowship churches in Brooklyn, NY, Bensalem, PA, Tabernacle and Cape Town, South Africa, among others. Walker has released several albums on the music labels Sweet Rain Records, Benson Music Group, and Verity Records as Hezekiah Walker & The Love Fellowship Crusade Choir, Hezekiah Walker & The Love Fellowship Choir, and more recently (since 2005) as, Hezekiah Walker & LFC. Walker’s efforts have seen him win Grammy Awards for Best Gospel Album By Choir Or Chorus twice: once for Live in Atlanta at Morehouse College (1994), and once for Love Is Live! (2001). Separate from The Love Fellowship Choir, Walker’s Love Fellowship Tabernacle Choir (LFT Church Choir) has released albums entitled Recorded “Live” at Love Fellowship Tabernacle in 1998, and Love Is Live in 2001. Walker and former wife, Monique Walker, has one daughter, Kyasia Walker.