Jacqueline Wadsworth

SO YOU think gospel is just for church? Think again! Gospel music helped lay the foundations for modern pop, rock and soul and every Sunday I’ll be presenting an hour of Soul-Stirring Gospel on Thornbury FM from 5-6pm.

Each week will have a slightly different flavour, with my first show featuring some great gospel-singing divas, including blues queen Bessie Smith, Mahalia Jackson and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

Johnny Cash is my featured artist for Week Two, and I've chosen songs from the end of his career when he was in simply stunning form. In Week Three I'm paying tribute to the great blues and gospel singer Marie Knight, who died in August. And my final show features the legendary soul singer Marvin Gaye.

I've also included some secret treasures in my shows, like Clarence Fountain and Dorothy Love Coates, brilliant singers who have never ventured into mainstream music, and are therefore not widely known. Listen out also for James Brown, Leonard Cohen, the Blackeyed Peas and Bob Dylan - what are they doing in a gospel show? You'll just have to tune in to find out!

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