Wendy Bagwell And The Sunliters

Southern gospel music and comedy trio (1953-1996) that was inducted into the Gospel Music Association's Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2001. The group originally consisted of Wendy Bagwell, Geraldine "Jerri" Morrison (née Terry), and Georgia Jones (2); Jones was succeeded by Dot Pressley, Virginia Williams, and, ultimately, by "Little" Jan Buckner, who married Bagwell's adopted nephew Ronnie Buckner. The group was the first Southern gospel group to tour Europe, in 1965. Wendy Bagwell's 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.