For the gospel group backing , see Only use when credited without . Otherwise please use . New York vocal harmony group signed with the record label in 1958, and scored a huge success right out of the gate with their first single "Tears on My Pillow". Other successful records followed, including 1960's 'Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko Ko Bop'. But by 1961, they'd hit a down period in their popularity, so lead singer (Anthony Gourdine) left the group to try his luck at a solo career. Following Anthony's departure, The Imperials changed some of their personnel and recorded a few singles for the Carlton label, which did not fare too well on the charts ; on those records, the group consisted of Clarence Collins, Ernest Wright, Jr, Sammy Strain, and George Kerr. By the end of 1963 Little Anthony returned to the group, having found little action as a solo act.{;}This Gospel Music Hall of Fame group was founded in 1964 as Southern gospel quartet . Hess' aggregation was intended by Hess to be a "supergroup" of sorts gathering members of , the and . The Imperials have had a rotating roster and sound over the years beginning to slowly morph into CCM beginning with . The group established a relationship with in 1966 as studio singers. In 1968, they became backing vocalists for and did the same for Presley the following year working for both concurrently for a time. The band ended the deal with Presley first after 1971. They set a first for Christian music when they integrated the group by adding in February of 1972. That same year, they stopped backing Dean and from that point focused exclusively on work in the gospel music industry. They would go on to win four Grammys and 15 Dove Awards over their long career. The previously all-male group added its first female in 1991 when Armond's sister took the place of the departing during the recording of . She would remain with the band through 1993. 1998 saw the five original members (Hess, Morales, Nielsen, McSpadden and Slaughter) onhand to accept their Hall of Fame induction alongside later members Blackwood, Andrus, Moscheo, Murray, and Taff. In September 2004, Armond Morales transferred ownership of the name "The Imperials" to the lineup at the time: son Jason Morales, Jeremie Hudson, Ian Owens and Shannon Smith. This version of the group released two albums on Lamon Records, and , consisting of re-recordings of older Imperials tunes. That incarnation of the band split up in early 2010. Currently two touring aggregations use the Imperials name:"The Classic Imperials" comprising early 80s lead vocalist , , and Michael Schlee which performs mostly in church venues and "Terry Blackwood and the Imperials

Members

• Dwight Brewster
• Clarence Collins
• Bobby Wade
• Henry Slaughter
• Jimmie Lee Sloas
• Sherrill Nielsen
• Russ Taff
• Lonnie Ott
• Larry Gatlin
• Greg Gordon
• Jim Murray
• Paul Smith
• Ron Hemby
• David Robertson
• Gary McSpadden
• Armond Morales
• Sherman Andrus
• Terry Blackwood
• Joe Moscheo
• Robbie Hiner
• David Will
• Jonathan Pierce
• Roger Wiles
• Jonathan Hildreth
• Rick Evans
• Pam Morales
• Jeremie Hudson

• en.wikipedia.org
• theclassicimperials.com
• en.wikipedia.org
• terryblackwood.com