A pioneer is one who walks into uncharted territory and prepares the way for others to follow. Reba Rambo-McGuire is the walking definition of one who is a pioneer.
Born to humble beginnings in Dawson Springs, Ketucky, Reba spent her childhood years dreaming of becoming a surgeon while her parents, aspiring gospel singers, traveled the country singing. Then one day, when she was 12 years old, her musical gift came burgeoning to the surface. Her parents took her on the road to replace one of their singers, supposedly for six weeks. Another replacement was never found, but Reba's journey into her destiny began. Within two years of joining the group, The Rambos became one of the most successful groups in Southern Gospel music.
While Reba's mother, Dottie, was gaining a reputation as one of gospel music's most prolific songwriters, Reba's own gift for songwriting began to blossom. She composed her first song in Vietnam while she & her family were performing for the troops during the Vietnam War. That composition, "Keep on Marching Home", was recorded for her first solo album, On The Folk Side of Gospel, when she was 15 years old.
Her first solo albums document the beginning of what is now known as Contemporary Christian Music. Reba was one of the first innovators of this unique and controversial style, which merged popular music with religious lyrics. She had the opportunity to perform at the first "Jesus Music" festival, Explo '72, along with fellow pioneers Andrae Crouch and Larry Norman.
In 1976, she released Lady, which would win a Dove Award for Contemporary Album of the Year. The album included her composition, "Lift Him Up", which would become one of the most sung worship songs of the decade. Lady would go on to sell over 100,000 copies, a landmark for a Contemporary Christian album at that time. Reba would step out of the family group and move into a full time solo ministry.
Between the years of 1977 to 1980, every solo album she recorded was nominated for Grammy and Dove Awards. Reba was one of Christian music's most sought after performers, performing everywhere from the Jerry Lewis Telethon to The Mike Douglas Show and even The White House.
In 1981, The Lord's Prayer, a musical that she had written with husband Dony McGuire, would win a Grammy Award for Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year. Two years later, a song from that album, "Forgive Me", would also win Donna Summer a Grammy Award for Inspirational Performance of the Year.
Together, Reba and Dony transitioned out of performing in entertainment arenas back into the church environment. They combined forces to become Rambo/McGuire, recording two more Grammy and Dove Award nominated albums, which innovated a new form of praise and worship music for the church. Their songs continue to be recorded and are located in countless hymnals. In 1990, they began an independent label, RMR Records, continuing to journey on their own creative path. Their music would blend with their roles as ordained ministers for the next phase of their lives.
They began conducting revivals in the mid-1990s and would once again expand the scope of what their ministry would entail. They began mentoring youth with hands-on ministry training during their tenure as revivalists. During this time, their children, Destiny and Israel, also became actively involved in the ministry.
After almost eight years on the road conducting revivals, Dony and Reba came off the road, back home to Nashville to begin a church. The River at Music City was opened in 2001 and is a center of refreshing, restoration and hope, fulfilling their mandate to reconcile mankind to God.
In 2001, Reba also released her first book, Follow the Yellow Brick Road (co-written with Judy Gossett), a semi-autobiographical account of her life with Bible-based self-help twist.
Reba is currently co-pastoring The River at Music City, with her husband Dony McGuire, and is in the process of completing her second book of stories behind the songs of Dottie Rambo. She has been inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and continues to minister around the world as a psalmist, speaker and teacher.
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