The Meditation Singers

In 1947, Ernestine Rundless, the wife of E.A. Rundless of the Soul Stirrers, started a new gospel group in Detroit, which she named the Meditation Singers. The group, which had as many as eight members originally, included Marie Waters and her sister, Deloreese Early. Deloreese would leave the Meditations in 1953 to sing R&B and pop music and eventually join the cast of the TV series, “Touched by an Angel” ... as Della Reese! Ernestine quickly tapped her daughter, Laura Lee, to fill Reese’s spot. Laura too would eventually leave and enjoy a superb career as a soul and R&B singer herself. Still another notable member of the Meditation Singers was Casietta George, who would later join the famed Caravan Singers. Fortunately, the Meditations kept going – for a time, anyway – with the Rev. James Cleveland, who served as their pianist and primary songwriter. Members have included: Ernestine Rundless (d. 2007), Laura Rundless, a/k/a Laura Lee ("Dirty Man", "Women's Love Rights", etc), Rev. James Cleveland, Della Reese, Marie Waters (Della's sister), Verline Rodgers, Donna Hammond, Patricia Lyles and Victoria Beasley (pianist) Labels recorded for: Specialty, Hob (originally a Detroit independent, later a subsidiary of Scepter), Gospel (subsidiary of Savoy), Checker (subsidiary of Chess) and Jewel