The Imperials is an American contemporary Christian music group. Originating as a southern gospel quartet, the innovative group would become a staple of contemporary Christian music beginning in the 1970s. The group has won four Grammys, fifteen Dove Awards, and was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
The band had its genesis when long-time Statesmen Quartet member Jake Hess retired from that group on December 7, 1963. Hess wanted to start a new group recognized as “king” of the Southern gospel field and thought the “Imperials” would be a good moniker.
After getting the go-ahead from Marion Snider for permission to use the name (Snider had previously operated an Imperial Quartet named after its sponsor Imperial Sugar), he gathered together pianist Henry Slaughter from the Weatherford Quartet, ex-Oak Ridge Boys baritone Gary McSpadden, the Weatherford Quartet’s bass singer Armond Morales and Speer Family tenor Sherrill (Shaun) Neilsen to join him. After signing with Benson Records in 1964, the group recorded their first of many albums on the Heart Warming Records label. The following year, the quartet organization moved from Atlanta to Nashville, Tennessee.
