thumb|291x291px|The Dixie Hummingbirds publicity photo from the 1950s or 1960s.
The Dixie Hummingbirds (formerly known as The Sterling High School Quartet) are an influential American gospel music group, spanning more than 80 years from the jubilee quartet style of the 1920s, through the "hard gospel" quartet style of gospel's golden age in the 1940s and 1950s, to the eclectic pop-tinged songs of today. The Hummingbirds inspired a number of imitators, such as Jackie Wilson and James Brown, who adapted the shouting style and enthusiastic showmanship of hard gospel to secular themes to help create soul music in the 1960s.
History
1928–1938
The group was formed in 1928 in Greenville, South Carolina, by James B. Davis and his classmate Barney Parks under the name the Sterling High School Quartet. After seeing the success of other quartet groups and realizing that there was not much work for African Americans in the South outside of low-paying labor jobs, the quartet decided to leave school and pursue their dream of being professional spiritual entertainers. By making this move, they had to change the name of the group to cut ties with the school. Davis recalls how they changed their name to the Dixie Hummingbirds:
The Hummingbirds traveled around the South singing spirituals. It was not until 1938 when James Bryant (formerly with the Heavenly Gospel Singers) joined the group that they start to sing Gospel. In September 1939 (Davis disputes the year as being 1938) the Hummingbirds drove to New York using contacts that Bryant had to record with Decca Records.
1938–1939
Bryant abruptly left the group after clashing with it following their return from recording in New York. With engagements picking up, they had to find a replacement and soon heard of Ira Tucker, a young singer from nearby Spartanburg, who became lead singer of the group at the age of 13.
Tucker introduced an energetic style of showmanship – running through the aisles, jumping off stage, falling to his knees in prayer – that was copied by many quartets that followed.
1977–present
James Davis retired In 1984, with Joe Williams (formerly of The Sons Of The Birds) replacing him.
Beachy Thompson died on June 28, 1994.
Guitarist Lyndon Baines Jones joined in 2000.
Carlton Lewis III joined in the 2003, and then sometime after he left but then returned when Ira Tucker got ill.
In 2003, the Hummingbirds were the subject of an award-winning book about their 75-year career span, Great God A'Mighty! The Dixie Hummingbirds: Celebrating the Rise of Soul Gospel Music by Jerry Zolten.
Barney Parks died on February 24, 2007.
Ira Tucker Sr. died due to complications from heart disease on June 24, 2008, at the age of 83. The group continued with the lineup of William Bright, Lyndon Baines Jones, Carlton Lewis III, Torrey Nettles and Cornell McKnight, thereby preserving the legacy left by the original members.
Twin brothers Troy & Roy Smith joined in 2015/2016.
Howard Carroll died on October 17, 2017, at age 92 at an assisted living center in Philadelphia.
Enoch Webster died on November 27, 2020.
Lyndon Baines Jones died on February 17, 2021.
Abraham Rice died on November 26, 2022.
Awards and honors
The Dixie Hummingbirds are recipients of a 2000 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States' highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.
Grammy history
{| class=wikitable
|-
| colspan=6 align=center | The Dixie Hummingbirds Grammy Awards History
|-
! Year
! Category
! Title
! Genre
! Label
! Result
|- align=center
| 2007
| Best Traditional Gospel Album
| Still Keeping It Real
| Gospel
| MCG
|
|- align=center
| 2000
| Best Traditional Gospel Album
| Music In The Air
| Gospel
| House Of Blues
|
|- align=center
| 1994
| Best Traditional Gospel Album
| In Good Health
| Gospel
| Atlanta International
|
|- align=center
| 1973
| Best Soul Gospel Performance
| "Loves Me Like a Rock"
| Gospel
| MCG
|
|- align=center
|}
Grammy Hall of Fame
Recordings inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance".
{| class=wikitable
|-
| colspan=6 align=center | Grammy Hall of Fame
|-
! Year Recorded
! Title
! Artist
! Genre
! Label
! Year Inducted
|- align=center
| 1946
| "Amazing Grace"
| The Dixie Hummingbirds
| Gospel (Single)
| Apollo
| 2000
|- align=center
|}
Inductions
{| class=wikitable
|-
| colspan=2 align=center |
|-
! Year Inducted
! Title
|- align=center
| 2007
| Christian Music Hall of Fame and Museum
|- align=center
| 2000
| Vocal Group Hall of Fame
|- align=center
|}