Last night, some of the biggest stars in music collected Grammy Awards for their recent work.
At a separate Saturday ceremony, lifetime achievement awards were bestowed on a select few: Prince, Frankie Beverly, early rap legend Roxanne Shanté and Nashville’s own Dr. Bobby Jones.
Back in 2018, I did an NPR profile of Jones and spent an afternoon at his home, learning why he’s collected shelves full of awards for his contributions to gospel music.
“The Grammy, the Dove, the Trumpet,” he gestured toward some of his many industry honors, “the three most prominent awards that you can get in this field that I’m in.”
There was a plaque marking his induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and photos of famous figures who’ve entered his professional orbit: “Of course, Oprah and Dr. Maya Angelou, who was my chief person that helped me along the way.”
Jones has covered a great distance during his 85 years. He grew up in rural Tennessee, but by age 15, he was enrolled at Tennessee State University and paying his way through college by leading his first choir.
Years later, he started what was, at the time, Nashville’s only mass choir, and eventually moved into the role for which he’d become known: genteel host of his own TV show showcasing gospel music.
He brought it to a then-new channel called BET, and dared put his own name on it.
“I thought about Johnny Carson and all of those people who had their own names on the shows,” he told me. “Let’s call it ‘Bobby Jones Gospel.’”
For the next 35 years, he put the elders and rising stars of gospel in front of a devoted national audience.
“They had heard these artists on the radio, but they hadn’t seen them before,” he noted. “And that’s why President (George W.) Bush gave me the recognition as being the revolutionizer of gospel music.”
And now Dr. Jones has a Grammy lifetime achievement award to add to his collection.
