| Wendy Bagwell and the Sunliters | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Genre: | Southern gospel music and comedy trio |
| Past Members: | Wendy Bagwell Jerri Morrison Georgia Jones |
Wendy Bagwell and the Sunliters was a Southern gospel music and comedy trio that was inducted into the Gospel Music Association's Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2001.[1]
The group originally consisted of Wendy Bagwell, Geraldine Terry (later known professionally as Jerri Morrison), and Georgia Jones; Jones was succeeded initially by Sandy Garvin and later by Dot Pressley, Virginia Williams, and, ultimately, by "Little Jan" Buckner, who married Bagwell's adopted nephew Ronnie Buckner.[2]
The Bagwell-Morrison-Buckner trio worked together for 33 years and recorded approximately 40 albums. As of 2023, Buckner is the only surviving member of the trio.[3]
The group was the first Southern gospel group to appear at Carnegie Hall[4] and the first to tour Europe, in 1965.[2] Their 1970 comedy monologue, "Here Come the Rattlesnakes" (sometimes known as "The Rattlesnake Song", although it contains no singing or music), an account of their performance at a small church in Harlan, Kentucky that handled rattlesnakes, was the first certifiable million seller in Southern gospel history.[2] [5] It eventually sold more than 2 million copies.[4]