Gospel music is the most American of American music and the veritable soundtrack of black America. Born in the trauma of the 1930s, nurtured in the dramatic shifts of the 1940s and 50s, validated during the uncertainties of the 1960s and 70s, and complicated amid the technological advances of the 1980s and 90s, it has wonderfully articulated the hopes, fears, struggles, and joys of generations of blacks.
Wallace Best, Professor at Princeton, defines the top 10 – As the root of R&B, Soul, and Rock, it is perhaps the most influential American musical genre, having launched the careers of countless singers past and present. Gospel music is the most authentically black cultural expression and the most glorious music on earth with a sound and a feeling all its own.
Coming up with a list of the best gospel songs is a near impossible task, so this list of 10 represent the most significant in terms of music and lyrical quality, originality, innovation, and most important, how they conform to the classic understanding of gospel music, which is “good news.” They not only have the gospel sound, but also the “spirit” of gospel!