Roger Bennett (Southern Gospel performer)
Roger Bennett (March 10, 1959 - March 17 2007) was a legendary Southern Gospel pianist, singer, songwriter, And Co-founder of the award winning Gospel Quartet Legacy Five. Prior to forming Legacy Five, he served nearly 20 years as pianist for The Cathedrals.
Early Life
Born March 10, 1959, Roger grew up in Strawberry, Arkansas. He was raised in a Missionary Baptist home. In November of 1979, Roger fulfilled his life-long dream of being a part of professional Southern Gospel music when he was invited by Glen Payne and George Younce to join the legendary Cathedral Quartet. Though he would leave the group for two years (1987-1989) to serve as the president of Journey Records, Roger was the group's pianist at the time of the quartet's retirement in 1999.
Further Career
Following the retirement of the Cathedrals, Roger and fellow Cathedrals member Scott Fowler launched Legacy Five. In 2004, Roger fulfilled another dream (having his own successful quartet) when readers of Singing News voted Legacy Five as the Favorite Traditional Male Quartet.
Although an excellent singer, Roger is best remembered as pianist--and often a comedian--for the Cathedrals and Legacy Five. Roger received the Singing News Fan Award for Favorite Southern Gospel pianist 14 years in row (1993-2006).
Songwriting was another forte' of Roger Bennett. Many of his songs appeared on the recordings of the Cathedrals, Legacy Five and many others. His writing talent was not limited to just songs, however. Roger was a contributing editor to Singing News, writing "Midnight Meditations."
Death & Illness
In 1995, Bennett was diagnosed with leukemia and has spent some time off the road while the rest of the group continued touring. His leukemia battle would be a struggle off and on over the next twelve years. As often as his health permitted, he continued to travel with Legacy Five. He received two bone-marrow transplants at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas as well as extensive chemotherapy and radiation treatments. However, his leukemia continued to spread and he died on March 17 2007.
He was voted "Favorite Pianist" by the fans many times, and was voted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2006.
Links
See also
- Legacy Five
- The Cathedrals