The World According To Chris Brewer

A Christian music legend is gone today. Here’s the report from my employer:

MOUNT VERNON — Gospel singer-songwriter Joyce “Dottie” Rambo died early today when the bus she was in ran off a road in southwest Missouri and struck an embankment.

Rambo, 74, of Nashville, Tenn., died in the crash about two miles east of Mount Vernon on Interstate 44, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said. Seven other people in the bus were injured, including a 3-year-old boy and an 8-year-old boy, and were hospitalized in Springfield with moderate to severe injuries, the patrol said.

It was unclear if the accident, which occurred about 2 a.m., was weather-related, the patrol said. Severe storms and tornadoes hit the region about 6 p.m. Saturday, killing 14 people. Sustained winds and storms swept through the area later in the night, according to the National Weather Service.

“She was a giant in the gospel music industry,” said Beckie Simmons, Rambo’s agent. “Dolly Parton recorded some of her songs.”

She was on her way to a Mother’s Day performance in Texas, according to her Web site. Last month, she performed at churches in Springfield and was scheduled to apper on the Jim Bakker Show in Branson in July.

Rambo was inducted to the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007.

Rambo had more than 2,500 published songs, including gospel classics such as “He Looked Beyond My Fault and Saw My Need” and the 1982 Gospel Music Association Song of the Year, “We Shall Behold Him.”

Very sad news, even for non-southern gospel fans such as myself. There’s no denying the powerful impact her ministry had and it’s really weird to think her death will probably end up being included in the storm totals that took 20 other lives yesterday.