Mattie Johnson

US gospel singer Mattie Johnson was born Mattie V Taylor in Aiken, South Carolina in 1946, she died 6th March,1988 in Washington D.C. aged 42 years due to cardiopulmonary arrest. She was a member of The St. Anne Pentecostal Holiness Church, in Washington, D.C. Mattie moved to the Washington D.C. area in 1962. Mattie was a soprano who began her career in gospel music in 1968 when she and her mother Martha Taylor formed the group Mattie Johnson And The Stars Of Faith, originally the group included five female vocalists and three musicians performing traditional gospel music in the Washington area. Mattie and her group performed around the country from one-room storefront churches through to cathedrals, Mattie also performed at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In later years the group members included Mattie, her sister Frances Taylor; Linda Tyson, Debra Gambill and Patricia Seigler. Mattie recorded six albums, three albums on Savoy records, as well as an album on Richburg records, an album on Olde World records (the Richburg and Olde World albums are the same album but issued with different covers but with identical songs and album info) Richburg and Olde World are both labels from New Jersey, Mattie also had an album on C & M Records, from Camp Springs, Maryland. As a gospel singer, Mattie was highly respected and was also the president of the D.C. Coalition of Black Artists. On the day of her passing, Mattie was singing during a service at St. Judah Spiritual Church in Northeast Washington, D.C., she passed away at Washington D.C's. General Hospital the same day. Over the years Mattie worked for the D.C. Department of Housing and Development and Arbitron Ratings, also working as a taxi dispatcher, a cafeteria worker and a nursing aide. Mattie was married to Sylvester Johnson, they had no children. Upon her passing, Mattie was survived by her husband, Sylvester Johnson, her mother, Martha Taylor, both of Washington, D.C.. Mattie was also survived by her sisters, Frances and Rosetta and her brothers Calvin, Gregory and David.