Delores Washington

Delores Washington was a member of the Gospel singing group [a1013997]. Her pure, silvery soprano was ‘always that sound that made The Caravans’ background so great. She was a trained operatic singer, having studied at a music conservatory. She joined [a1013997] in 1958. She became known as the Gospel Princess for her youthful vibrancy and trained soprano voice. Around that time, the lineup also included [a731527], [a573739], Shirley Caesar, and [a1089762]. [a2493510], who played piano with The Caravans and was Washington’s neighbor in Robins, Illinois and had recommended Dolores to Albertina Walker. Young Delores looked up to [a731527], a fellow Caravan who was considered one of the queens of gospel. Even as she developed a thriving solo career, Delores also remained a stalwart member of The Caravans. As she once put it in a filmed publicized interview, “They (singers) can come, and they can go, and they can come, and they can go, but I ain’t going nowhere.” In 1968, she ventured off with her solo career which started with The Herndon Singers. Her musical relationship with [a573738] opened the way for several solo albums accompanied by James on the Savoy Gospel Label. She also toured Europe singing with The Shirley Wahls Singers. She battled various forms of cancer several times throughout her life beginning in the 1970's. Mrs. Delores Washington-Green’s powerful singing continued even after treatment for cancer and in 2019, she received the Dr. Bobby Jones Legends honor at the Stellar Gospel Music Awards in Las Vegas.