Margie Sullivan
Margie Sullivan (January 22, 1933–May 31, 2023), known as the "Mother of Bluegrass Gospel," was an American vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. Born Margie Louise Brewster in Winnsboro, Louisiana, she began her musical journey playing a guitar purchased by her sharecropper father and traveling the Pentecostal revival circuit as a teenager. After marrying Enoch Sullivan in 1949, she became the lead singer and public face of The Sullivan Family. Operating out of St. Stephens, Alabama, the group helped pioneer the bluegrass gospel subgenre. Sullivan and her family were inducted into Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Hall of Fame and received the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Distinguished Achievement Award in 2005.