Winners of 5 GRAMMY Awards (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009)
Honored with the GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award (2009)
Gospel Music Hall of Fame Inductees (2003)
Winners of 4 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards (2003, 2006, 2 Awards in 2009)
3 U.S. Presidential Administrations have invited The Blind Boys to the White House: President Clinton in 1994, President Bush in 2002 and President Obama in 2010.
Featured performance on the 2005 GRAMMY telecast with Mavis Staples, Kanye West and John Legend. Other on stage and recording collaborations include work with Prince, Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel, Tom Waits, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Allen Toussaint, Ben Harper, Jamey Johnson and many more.
Performed on Amnesty International's 50th Anniversary song "Toast To Freedom", released May 2012, the song is dedicated to human rights activism worldwide. The basic song track was recorded at the legendary Levon Helm's studio in Woodstock NY, with the final version of the song also featuring: Carly Simon, Ewan McGregor, Keb Mo, Kris Kristofferson, Levon Helm, Marianne Faithfull, Roseanne Cash, Taj Mahal, Warren Haynes and many more.
Featured appearances on 60 Minutes, Late Night with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Today Show, CBS Saturday Morning and Austin City Limits.
The Blind Boys' version of the Tom Waits song, "Way Down In The Hole", was used as the main title theme for the popular HBO series, The Wire.
In January 2012, The Blind Boys were featured as part of Preservation Hall Jazz Band's 50th Anniversary performance at Carnegie Hall along with Rosebud artists Trombone Shorty and Allen Toussaint.
In January 2010, The Blind Boys appeared on Late Night with David Letterman, accompanied by Lou Reed. They performed the Velvet Underground classic "Jesus," a collaboration that is also featured on The Blind Boys' 2009 CD, Duets and which they previously sang together at the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York.
Featured in the film, Soundtrack For A Revolution, which screened at the prestigious Cannes and Tribeca Film Festivals. Focusing on the civil rights movement, the film uses updated renditions of the era's songs performed by musicians including The Blind Boys, Richie Havens, The Roots, Harry Belafonte, Wyclef Jean, Angie Stone, John Legend and Joss Stone. Two-time Oscar and two-time Emmy Award winner Bill Guttentag and partner Dan Sturman wrote and directed the film.
In May 2005, Dan Rather presented The Blind Boys of Alabama with The American Foundation for the Blind's distinguished Helen Keller Personal Achievement Award, presented to individuals and organizations that have improved the quality of life for people who are blind, visually impaired or disabled. Past recipients include Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, and Jose Feliciano.
May 2005 also found Her Majesty, Queen Noor of Jordan presenting the Blind Boys the First Niarchos Prize for Survivorship. The Landmine Survivors Network awards the prize to an artist whose life work promotes resiliency and recovery.
The Gospel At Colonus featuring The Blind Boys of Alabama was a musical production that transformed Sophocles' classic Greek tragedy (Oedipus at Colonus) into a contemporary, foot-stomping gospel masterpiece. The play was acclaimed as a landmark work of the American Musical theater with years of critical praise, including OBIE Awards for both Outstanding Musical and for Outstanding Performance by Morgan Freeman who was feature during the play's 1983-84 season. It was also nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award. The Gospel At Colonus premiered in New York in 1983 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Over the years, this dazzling production has appeared nationwide and in Europe and South America and will return briefly for some rare performances in June 2011.
Festival Appearances include: Festival de Fès (Morocco); New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival; 2010 Tour of China; London Jazz Festival; Salzburger Jazz-Herbst (Austria); Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland); Pohoda Festival (Slovakia); Stockholm International Jazz Festival (Sweden); Festival de Jazz de Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain); Copenhagen Jazz Festival (Denmark); Essence Music Festival (New Orleans); Voodoo Fest (New Orleans); Dysart Festival (Ireland); Narcao Blues Festival (Italy); Festival D'Ete International De Quebec (Canada); Festival International de Jazz de Montreal (Canada); Monterey Bay Blues Festival (CA); Cité de la musique Concert Hall (Paris, France); WOMAD (UK); BBC Radio 2 Cambridge Folk Festival (UK); Stimmen Festival (Germany); Nice Jazz Festival (France); Rome Blues Festival (Italy); Hong Kong Arts Festival; Austin City Limits Festival (TX); Fuji Rock Festival (Japan); Byblos Festival (Lebanon); The Helsinki Festival (Finland); Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl (LA, CA); Bonnaroo Music Festival (TN); Boogiewood Festival (Belgium); Glasgow International Jazz Festival (Scotland); International Istanbul Jazz Festival (Turkey); The Kennedy Center American Music Fest (Washington, DC); Bumbershoot (Seattle, WA); San Diego Street Scene (CA) and many more.
The Gospel At Colonus featuring The Blind Boys of Alabama was a musical production that transformed Sophocles' classic Greek tragedy (Oedipus at Colonus) into a contemporary, foot-stomping gospel masterpiece. The play was acclaimed as a landmark work of the American Musical theater with years of critical praise, including OBIE Awards for both Outstanding Musical and for Outstanding Performance by Morgan Freeman who was feature during the play's 1983-84 season. It was also nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award. The Gospel At Colonus premiered in New York in 1983 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Over the years, this dazzling production has appeared nationwide and in Europe and South America and will return briefly for some rare performances in June 2011.