Award-winning Group Puts Their Twist on Gospel Classics
with ‘Rock of Ages, Hymns and Gospel Favorites’
HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (June 8, 2015) – Country music legends the Oak Ridge Boys have proven this week that gospel music is as popular as ever, after Billboard Magazine posted its June 13 sales charts. Rock of Ages, the latest album release from the Country Music Hall of Fame inductees, has broken into the Billboard Christian Album Top 10. According to Billboard, the album is also the greatest gainer on the Christian Albums chart for the reporting period.
Rock of Ages debuted at No. 1 on the Nielsen SoundScan
Southern Gospel chart when it entered wide release May 26. Since that
time it has risen from a No. 38 debut on the Billboard
Christian Albums chart to its current position at No. 8. The album is
being distributed through Capitol Christian Distribution and is
available in general market stores, as well as in the Christian
marketplace and online retailers such as iTunes, Amazon.com, and www.gaither.com. Rock of Ages marks the 14th time in the group’s 40-year history that an Oak Ridge Boys album has reached a Billboard Top 10 and their 26th album to break Billboard top 40 charts.
Founded in 1943, in Knoxville, Tenn., by gospel music singer,
manager, promoter and businessman Wally Fowler, the current Oak Ridge
Boys lineup was assembled years later (William Lee Golden, 1965; Duane
Allen, 1966; Richard Sterban, 1972; and Joe Bonsall, 1973). Together,
they have scored 17 No. 1 hits, released more than 40 albums and
achieved worldwide sales of over 41 million units. They have received
five GRAMMY® Awards; 15 CMA Award nominations, winning four of them; and
were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2000.
In April it was announced that the group will be inducted into the
Country Music Hall of Fame in the fall of 2015, in the Modern Era Artist
category.
Bonsall and Sterban were inducted into the Philadelphia Music
Alliance Walk of Fame in 1994. Golden received the Alabama Music Hall of
Fame’s Life Work Award for Performing Achievement in 1997, and Allen
was honored with induction into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in
2014.