Music of Dottie Rambo, queen of gospel, will never be silenced

“The sky shall unfold,
Preparing His entrance.
The stars shall applaud Him
With thunders of praise.
The light in His eyes
Shall enhance those awaiting.
We shall behold Him
Then face to face.”
— Lyrics from “We Shall Behold Him.”

Known not only as a gospel singer and prolific songwriter, but also for her unshakable faith in the face of pain and heartache, Joyce “Dottie” Rambo, 74, died early Sunday morning, May 11, due to injuries sustained in a tragic accident.
Six other people in her tour bus, including her manager, Larry Ferguson, were injured when the 1997 Prevost bus crashed into a guard rail and an embankment around 2:20 a.m. on Interstate 44 near Mount Vernon, Mo. Dottie died at the scene.
It is possible the crash may be related to severe storms that were in the area.
Dottie was on her way to perform at a Mother’s Day concert at Fountain of Life Church in North Richland Hills, Texas, near Fort Worth.
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Dottie was born Joyce Reba Lutrell on March 2, 1934, during the Great Depression. Growing up in Kentucky, she played guitar and listened to the Grand Ole Opry radio show — both distractions from her life of poverty.
While Dottie’s mother encouraged her to write and perform at churches and other events, her father wanted her to pursue a career in country music. When Dottie became a born-again Christian and refused to give up her gospel music, her father told her she was no longer welcome at home, and at the age of only 12, she began her full-time career of writing and singing gospel music, going it alone to sing in Indianapolis. She spent the next four years going from church to church singing and speaking.
Dottie told The Log in a 2004 interview from her home in Tennessee that she wrote her first song when she was 8, sitting by a creek in Kentucky.
“The first song I wrote got me in a lot of trouble and almost expelled from school, so I can’t talk too much about that one,” she said at that time. “My first gospel song was written at 8 as well, but to be honest I can’t remember the title. My first professional gospel song with a publisher was ‘There’s Nothing My God Can’t Do.’ ”
Four years later, at the age of 16, Dottie married Buck Rambo and less than two years later her daughter, Reba, was born. At the age of 3, Reba joined her parents in performing, and the trio known as The Singing Rambos was born.
She and her family toured the world during the 1960s, and were the first gospel singers to sing for troops in Vietnam. Later, they were the first to perform behind the Iron Curtain.
Among her hit songs are “We Shall Behold Him,” “Holy Spirit Thou Art Welcome,” “He Looked Beyond My Fault and Saw My Need” and “Sheltered In The Arms Of God.”
These are only four of the more than 2,500 songs (she once lost a book with another 1,000 non-registered songs) written by Dottie, and she said “I quit counting at that number.”
Elvis Presley, Barbara Mandrell, Sandi Patty, Johnny Cash, Whitney Houston and Dolly Parton are among the hundreds of stars who have recorded her songs.
“My songs are like my babies,” she said in 2004. “Some of them are little country babies dressed in cowboy hats and bandanas and some, like ‘We Shall Behold Him,’ are dressed in satin and lace. ‘He Looked Beyond My Faults’ is my signature song and is probably the closest to my heart. ‘We Shall Behold Him’ is very special, too, so it is just too hard to say (which is a favorite.)
“I’ve had a couple of songs make the hymnbooks. That makes me sound like I’m 104,” she said with a laugh. “But I wouldn’t mind if a couple of these new ones were found worthy for that. I can’t think of anything that’s better than writing and singing about my Lord.”
When Christian television began to become popular, Dottie was there with The Gospel Singing Jubilee in the 1960s. She later gave of her talent and resources to help Christian networks, such as CBN and TBN, when they were just beginning. During the 1980s, she had her own show on TBN, “The Dottie Rambo Magazine,” which was the top-rated show on the network for six years.
Even until her death, Dottie, the “queen of gospel,” continued to be a guest on many Christian network programs, and appeared on TNN, GAC, PAX, Women’s Entertainment and others.
Dottie also holds the honor of being the first to have a children’s record, “Down By the Creek Bank,” sell more than a million copies.
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Dottie’s first award of many was a Grammy in 1968 for the album, “It’s The Soul of Me.” In 1982, she was named Songwriter of the Year at the Dove Awards and her song “We Shall Behold Him” was voted Song of the Year.
In 1994, the Country Christian Music Association named her Songwriter of the Century. In 1999, Dottie received the Dove award, with Whitney Houston, for Best Traditional Gospel Song with “I Go To The Rock.”
Dottie was awarded a Lifetime Achievement award from ASCAP in 2000, a rare honor for a gospel songwriter.
By the beginning of the 21st century, Dottie was once again performing and writing. Her 71st album, “Stand By the River,” featured a duet with Dolly Parton on the title song and won two Christian Music Fan Awards.
Dottie was inducted into the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame twice, once as a solo performer and once with her group, the Rambos. She won the 2003 Pioneer award by CCMA and CCMA’s Songwriter of the Year award in 2004.
She was welcomed into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame in 2006.
And Barbara Mandrell inducted Dottie into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame late last year, only the 10th woman to enter the hall.
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Nothing could stop Dottie Rambo. Not divorce, back pain, surgeries, or mismanagement of her finances.
Serious health problems, calcified discs that ruptured in her back and began to saw into her spine, began for Rambo in 1986. After 10 back surgeries over 12 years — one that left her partially paralyzed and learning to walk all over again — Dottie said in 2004, “God has been so good. I am getting stronger than ever and am back full time in the ministry.”
She added a message to others, “Never give in to fear, pain or depression. I have learned more about my Lord lying on my back than I have ever learned walking around trying to sing and minister — and that is the truth.”
Dottie is survived by her daughter, Reba McGuire, and son-in-law Dony three grandchildren and one great-grandchild, a sister, Nellie Slaton of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and two brothers, Jerry Luttrell of Madisonville, Ky., and Freddie Luttrell of Sturgis, Ky.
“They (the grandchildren) are my lifeline. I love those kids so much. They call me Grand Dot!” she said in 2004.
The Home-going Celebration service for Dottie will be held at Christ Church, 15354 Old Hickory Blvd. in Nashville at 1 p.m. May 19.
Visitations will be from 4 to 8 p.m. May 17 and 2 to 4 p.m. May 18 at Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home, 660 Thompson Lane in Nashville.
Visitations and services are open to the public.
Flowers can be sent to the funeral home or donations in Dottie’s memory may be mailed to the Dottie Rambo Memorial Fund, P. O. Box 50508, Nashville, TN 37205.
In this time of sadness at her death, how wonderful to know that Dottie is now “face to face” with the One she wrote about so lovingly — the One who brought her through the trials of life, the One who gave her the music she shared with us. Her music will never be silenced, and her legacy will continue for generations to come.

Soon I shall hear the call from heaven’s portals
Come home my child,

It’s the last mile you must trod
I’ll fall asleep
And wake in God’s sweet heaven
For I’m sheltered in the arms of God.
— From “Sheltered In The Arms of God” by Dottie Rambo.