Gospel music artist Lee Williams, the leader and founder of The Spiritual QC’s, has died
TUPELO, Miss. — Gospel music artist Lee Williams, the leader and founder of the award-winning Lee Williams and the Spiritual QC’s, has died. He was 75.
Williams’ death was announced Monday on the musical group’s Facebook page.
“It is with our deepest sorrow that we announce the passing of our fearless leader, Dr. Lee Williams,” the group posted on social media. “Though he has moved from his temporary house, the love, the memories and the music will linger on,” they added.
Williams founded the group in the late 1960s in Tupelo, Mississippi. He worked as a truck driver before committing himself to music full time.
Known for his deep baritone voice and cool stoic style, Williams and the group performed for decades before finding national success in the 1990s with their first hit, “I’ve Learned to Lean,” according to the Daily Journal.
Multiple successful albums followed in the 1990s and 2000s.
Williams, along with the group. in 2010 won the Stellar Awards’ James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award.
He retired from performing in 2018.
Gospel composer and artist Kurt Carr wrote in a social media post about Williams that “a giant of the quartet world has received his wings.”