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Albertina Walker, 81, a Grammy-winning singer who was known as the “Queen of Gospel,” died Friday morning of respiratory failure in a hospital in Chicago, said her granddaughter, Tina Nance.
Close friend and WVON radio host Pam Morris said Walker was “a living legend” who was responsible for launching more than a dozen careers of gospel artists. Walker formed her own gospel group, the Caravans, as a young woman and was a protege of gospel star Mahalia Jackson.
U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush called Walker a voice for the civil rights movement. He said her music was “a healing balm to those who struggled for justice.” The Associated Press
