Rex Lloyd Nelon (January 19, 1932 – January 24, 2000) was an American southern gospel musician, with a career spanning over 40 years of both singing and publishing gospel music. He was a longstanding member of The LeFevres, which later became

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. ...

after his family took over management. Nelon was also a featured singer in the

Gaither Homecoming ''Gaither Homecoming'' is the name applied to a series of videos, music recordings and concerts, which are organized, promoted and usually presented by Christian music songwriter and impresario Bill Gaither. Beginnings On February 19, 1992, the ...

series.

Early life

Nelon was born in

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...

, to Howard and Marietta Nelon. At age 14, he won his first singing contest. On Monday nights, he attended a weekly singing class where he was taught to read shaped note music and began to develop a solid ear for singing bass. In time, he was singing with regional groups. He would serve in the

U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...

in the early 1950s.

Career

In 1955, Nelon was hired to sing bass with the Homeland Harmony Quartet. In 1957, he joined the LeFevres, one of the legendary family groups of southern gospel music. In 1975, he assumed the direction of The LeFevres, which eventually became known as the Rex Nelon Singers, now called the Nelons.http://www.sghistory.com/index.php?n=N.Nelons The Rex Nelon Singers/Nelons Nelon mentored his daughter Kelly Nelon who continued to carry on the family traditions by heading the group,

. It was from the early Rex Nelon Singers that the careers of Janet Paschal and Karen Peck began to take shape. Nelon is the father of Kelly Nelon Clark and Todd Nelon. Kelly and her two daughters Amber Nelon Thompson and Autumn Nelon Streetman sang with their family southern gospel group The Nelons. In 1980 and 1982, he was voted by the Singing News Fan Awards as the "Favorite Bass Singer" and also he was named "Mr. Gospel Music". In 1998, he was inducted into 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 ...

with the LeFevres. The following year in 1999, he was inducted into the

Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame The Southern Gospel Music Association (''SGMA'') is a non-profit corporation formed as an association of southern gospel music singers, songwriters, fans, and industry workers. Membership is acquired and maintained through payment of annual dues. ...

. Nelon's publishing catalog is a collection of some of gospel music's all-time favorite songs such as " O What a Savior", "Come Morning", "The Love of God", "The Old Country Church", "Hide Me Rock of Ages", "Sweeter as the Days Go By", "Thanks", and "If We Never Meet Again". Nelon along with his group recorded over 25 projects and received 5

Dove Awards A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards ceremonies presented annually and have been held in Nashville, Tennessee excep ...

, 3 NARAS

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nominations and many Singing News Fan Awards. They have appeared on the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

, " Music City Tonight", "

The 700 Club ''The 700 Club'' is the flagship television program of the Christian Broadcasting Network, airing each weekday in syndication in the United States and available worldwide on CBN.com. The news magazine program features live guests, daily news, p ...

" and numerous national television shows. They are credited with over 13 "Top Five" radio singles. In 1987, the Nelons received the Short Form Music Video of the Year Award for "Famine In The Land", as well as winning the

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, NYFF i ...

Award that same year. In 1997, the mayor of Atlanta declared May, "Nelons Appreciation Month". Later that year, they were presented the Silver Angel Award for "Glad You're Here", by the Excellence in Media. Nelon died on January 24, 2000, of a heart attack at the age of 68, the night prior to the Gaither London Homecoming taping.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelon, Rex Southern gospel performers 1932 births 2000 deaths Singers from Georgia (U.S. state) Musicians from Asheville, North Carolina 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American singers The Nelons members