Dorothy Golt Leonard Miller (born Dorothy Virginia Golt; August 10, 1945 – October 11, 2024) was an American business executive who headed companies that specialized in Christian music and other Christian products. She was a member of the

Gospel Music Hall of Fame The Gospel Music Hall of Fame, created in 1972 by the Gospel Music Association, is a hall of fame dedicated exclusively to recognizing meaningful contributions by individuals and groups in all forms of gospel music. Inductees This is an incompl ...

and the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame.

Early life and education

A native of

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, Dorothy was the daughter of William M. Golt and Dorothy Golt. She graduated from Mount Pleasant High School in 1963.

Career

Dorothy began her Christian and Gospel music career as a receptionist, radio promoter, and salesperson for Calvary Records and Windchime Records. In 1981, helped by a modest investment by family members and a friend, Dorothy launched New Day Christian Distributors in her garage. Over time, the company added books, clothing, games, gifts, and toys and became "a major source of distribution for the Christian retail market." Recording labels distributed by New Day include Fuel, Daywind, Malaco, Reach, Tooth and Nail, Gotee, Fair Trade, GoDigiPath, Tyscot, Lunjeal, and Word/Curb. In 1986, Dorothy and Ronnie Drake created Daywind Music Group, which comprises Daywind Music Publishing, Daywind Performance Tracks, Daywind Records, and Daywind Studios. Described in the trade publication ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' as "one of the most successful companies in the Christian market", the company has released more than 5,500 performance soundtracks, 500 albums, and many print music pieces. Artists whose music has been supported by Daywind include

The Blackwood Brothers The Blackwood Brothers are an American southern gospel quartet. Pioneers of the Christian music industry, they are 8-time Grammy Award winners in addition to winning 7 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards. They are also members of the Memp ...

, Brian Free and Assurance,

Gold City Gold City (formerly known as Gold City Quartet) is an American southern gospel quartet based in Gadsden, Alabama. Formed in 1980, the group was one of the most successful quartets through the 1980s and 1990s, charting ten number one hits in ...

Mark Lowry Mark Alan Lowry (born June 24, 1958) is an American singer, comedian, minister and songwriter. He is best known for co-writing the song " Mary, Did You Know?" and being a member of the Gaither Vocal Band from 1988 to 2001, and 2009 to 2013, alo ...

, Crabb Family, Karen Peck and New River, Perrys, Legacy Five, Greater Vision, Wilburn and Wilburn, LeFevre Quart, The Sound, HighRoad, Tim Menzies, Jason Crabb, Joseph Habedank, Triumphant Quartet, The Lewis Family and

The Nelons The Nelons, formerly the Rex Nelon Singers, were an American southern gospel group based in Atlanta, Georgia. Group members included Kelly Nelon Clark, her husband Jason Clark, and Kelly's daughters Amber Nelon Kistler and Autumn Nelon Streetman. ...

. Daywind began producing the ''Live at Oak Tree'' and "Live at Daywind" series of DVDs of Christian performers, with the format derived from Miller's appreciation of music videos. The video recordings were featured on FamilyNet,

Gospel Music Channel UP TV (stylized as UPtv; formerly GMC TV and originally Gospel Music Channel) is an American basic cable television network that was founded to have a focus on gospel music. It has expanded into family-friendly original movies, series, and special ...

, and Inspo Network. In 1990, Dorothy created Daywind Music Publishing, one of the top publishers in Christian music with a songwriter roster of 16 including Jason Cox, Gerald Crabb, Lee Black, Sue C. Smith, Karen Peck Gooch, Devin McGlamery, Bill Whyte, Dianne Wilkinson, and many more. Dorothy established Music Source Direct as a short-run duplication facility, and owned two recording studios. Dorothy is one of the only female business executives to have been inducted into the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame, as well as the SGMA Southern Gospel Hall of Fame.

Death

Miller died in

Hendersonville, Tennessee Hendersonville is the most populous city in Sumner County, Tennessee, on Old Hickory Lake. As of the 2020 census the city's population was 61,753. Hendersonville is the fourth-most populous city in the Nashville metropolitan area after Nas ...

on October 11, 2024, at the age of 79.

Recognition

Honors given to Dorothy include the following: *2005 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Southern Gospel Music Guild. *2013

Gospel Music Association The Gospel Music Association (GMA) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1964 for the purpose of supporting and promoting the development of all forms of gospel music. As of 2011, there are about 4,000 members worldwide. The GMA's membership c ...

's Lifetime Achievement Award. *2019 Induction into the

*2020 Induction into the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame. *2023 BMI Spotlight Award Recipient.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Dorothy Leonard 1945 births 2024 deaths American women business executives American women company founders American company founders American music publishers (people) Businesspeople from Wilmington, Delaware 21st-century American businesswomen Mount Pleasant High School (Delaware) alumni