Legendary Oak Ridge Boy to be celebrated by the music he loves most

By John Herndon, KentuckySings.com

The last time Duane Allen attended the National Quartet Convention one certain guest was causing quite a stir with his presence.

“I remember Elvis was there and that was quite a commotion he was causing,” Allen said from his home in Hendersonville, Tenn., last week. 

When Allen steps into the LeConte Center at Pigeon Forge Monday, there won’t be a commotion or an uproar – Allen would never want that – but there will be an excitement as one of gospel music’s greats of 50-60 years ago returns to his roots to be inducted into the Southern Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame. 

Longtime gospel and country music fans know that Allen has been singing lead for the Oak Ridge Boys since 1966. During those early years with the Oaks, he became one of the most popular voices in Southern Gospel and was named Favorite Lead in The Singing News Fan Awards in 1971 and 1972 along with Favorite Male Singer in 1973.

But five years later, the Oak Ridge Boys began their transition into mainstream country music, a shift that was complete with the release of their first country hit, “Y’all Come Back Saloon.”

While the Oak Ridge Boys eventually became beloved members of the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame, their impact on – and Duane Allen’s love of – gospel music never waned. They continued to perform some of their gospel hits at their shows, often ending them with a rousing version of “Heaven Bound” or a heart-tugging a cappella version of “Amazing Grace” as an encore. In addition, the Oaks were often called upon to talk about gospel music in the media.

Such was the case last spring when Duane Allen was being interviewed for a story for The Singing News. Or that’s what he thought he was doing.

“I was talking with Aaron Rich, from Kentucky,” Allen recalls “He asked me what I thought of the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame. I thought it was just a question he was asking. I told him I thought it was a wonderful thing that they were honoring individual people mainly. And he asked me another question about how I felt about being in the Southern Gospel Hall of Fame. I told him my time has probably come and gone, because I wasn’t expecting anything.”

Shortly thereafter, while the Oak Ridge Boys were performing at the Grand Ole Opry, Rich and three others walked on stage announcing that Duane Allen would be inducted into the Southern Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame at the National Quartet Convention.

“It was a total surprise for me,” Allen says. “When they walked up on the stage, they came walking right toward me. They said, ‘We are inviting you to join our Class of 2025 as a new inductee in the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame.’

“I almost fainted. Once again, I was beside myself. My head was in the clouds that night. It was just a surreal moment.”

Allen says that Oak Ridge Boys’ tour manager Darrick Kinslow, another gospel music veteran, had arranged for the announcement. “It was a total surprise to me,” he says.

It had been almost 50 years since the Oak Ridge Boys made the switch from a progressive southern gospel band, recording classics like “Jesus Is Coming Soon,” “I Know,” and “The Baptism of Jesse Taylor,” to the country band known for hits like “Elvira,” Bobbie Sue,” and “One In A Million.”

Yet, Duane Allen’s gospel legacy remains strong. His heartfelt lead on “I Know” was a big reason why it was named Favorite Song of 1971 by readers of The Singing News. Those same fans named the Oak Ridge Boys their favorite group the same year. 

In addition, Duane co-wrote “He Did It All For Me” with Sager Powell. The gospel classic was released by the Oak Ridge Boys in 1970. The song has been recently recorded by Ernie Haase and Signature Sound, featuring Duane Allen, at the Memphis Quartet Show.

(National Quartet Convention fans can see and hear another performance of the song on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 27, as Duane will join EHSS on stage that day.)

“This is a huge honor for me because everybody that knows me knows my first love is Southern Gospel Quartet Music. It has always been my favorite,” Allen says. 

“I have always loved group singing. I love the harmony that goes with group singing. When you get all of those guys singing right on pitch, there are overtones you can hear that will go beyond the tenor.”

It’s a fitting example of Duane Allen’s life. 

He’d wanted to sing in a quartet and was studying classical music at East Texas State University and dreamed of someday coaching basketball. He’d studied music groups and saw that many did not last long in either country or gospel music.

“I love basketball and I love all kinds of music. I thought that since I was getting a degree in classical music, I may as well go teach a semester and earn my teacher’s certificate so if it didn’t work out in my dream of being in a singing group, I could come home or go somewhere else and teach high school chorus and coach basketball,” Duane says.

(In a 2013 interview with this writer, Allen also noted that he had worked as the music minister of a small church in Texas.)

The chorus teacher-basketball coach combo would have been unusual, but Allen says he’s learned there are many similarities between the harmony in the music he loves and the chemistry in the sport he loves.

With Duane singing lead, the Oak Ridge Boys became a trend-setting gospel group that took that distinctive sound to country music. While the Oak Ridge Boys have not had a radio hit in over 30 years and three of the singers are now in their 80s, they still routinely sing to sold out crowds.

But over the last two years, times have been very tough on The Oak Ridge Boys. With ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, destroying his body, longtime tenor Joe Bonsall stepped away at the end of 2023. His hand-picked replacement, 29-year-old Ben James, has been wowing crowds, blending respectful renditions of Bonsall’s leads with electric performances of his own such as a superb solo on “How Great Thou Art” that the Oak Ridge Boys have added to their set list in 2025.

“In the summer of 2023, Joe told me his condition was getting worse. He said he would do his best to finish the Christmas shows,” Allen remembers. “After that last show in 2023, he looked up at me and said, ‘Ace, I’m done. I am going to go home and take care of my health. He kept his promise up to the end. He didn’t want anybody to know he had ALS. I had known it for about four or more years. I had kept my word with him. The only official announcement of him having ALS was his obituary.

“Joe didn’t want a pity party. Those were his exact words.”

Bonsall, whom All considered his best friend, passed away on July 9, 2024.

But earlier in the year, Duane Allen had also experienced the pain of losing his spouse. Norah Lee Allen, a longtime singer at the Grand Ole Opry and a member of the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame, passed away after a battle with cancer.

In fact, over a four-month period in 2024, 16 people closely connected to the Oak Ridge Boys passed away.

“When we lost 16 people in a four-month period, it just about took my breath away,” Duane says. “It got to where it was difficult to even answer the phone. I was afraid someone was calling to tell me about someone in my family, in our Oaks family or people we work with. I can’t talk or sing when I cry and I just avoid crowds. We would come off stage and Darrick (Kinslow, the Oaks’ tour manager) would escort me right to the bus. I didn’t stop for anything. Most of the time, pretty soon after that, I would go to bed.”

But Duane Allen says God’s blessings carried him through.

“People started coming to visit me. My church (First Baptist of Hendersonville) was really good to me,” Duane says. “They came over to sing Christmas carols. I was back in the back of my house and I didn’t hear them. My neighbor called me and told me there was a white bus full of people and his dogs were going crazy. They came to say ‘Merry Christmas’ to me.

“My church has been a foundation for me. They have really been good to me.”

And now, at age 82, Duane Allen’s musical career has apparently come full circle.with his induction into the SGMA Hall of Fame and a trip to the National Quartet Convention.

“The first time I went to the National Quartet Convention, I rode in with the Prophets. I wasn’t a member of the Prophets. I was still in college,” he says. “The love and the warmth I got from that crowd was a healing time for me. It healed me in places I didn’t know needed healing.”

Allen later served a stint as the Prophets’ baritone before resigning thinking he would be headed for Vietnam. Before he learned that a medical condition would keep him home, the Prophets had already hired his replacement. Allen headed to Nashville and joined the Oak Ridge Boys, replacing the legendary Smitty Gatlin.

He remains close to many in the gospel music industry. 

“The Isaacs are some of our best friends in the whole world,” he says. “And I am very close to Billy Blackwood. He has always been one of my closest friends. I love him like a brother. You would not be surprised to see us any day of the week at Cracker Barrel eating lunch. 

“I am very close to Michael Sykes and his wife Tanya. I’m close to Gene McDonald. I mentored The Nelons. They would send me everything they recorded before they mixed it and asked for my input. They were just some of the best people I have ever met.

“Bill and Gloria Gaither are some of the most welcoming people I know. There are a bunch of people in gospel music I still call my best friends. I have lost some of my dearest friends, too. When you think of gospel music, I am talking about George (Younce) and Glen (Payne), Brock and Ben (Speer) and Rex Nelon. I could go on and on, the people that are legends like Howard and Vestal (Goodman).”

It’s not likely that when he replaced Smitty Gatlin, Duane Allen would have thought he would be joining many of those people in the SGMA Hall of Fame. 

“When I replaced Smitty, we were singing in Cincinnati. This lady came up to me and said, ‘You are good but you can’t fill Smitty Gatlin’s shoes,'” Duane says. “I didn’t really know what to say. What can I say that won’t turn them off but also standing up for myself a little bit because I loved Smitty too. 

“I said, ‘Well, I will just have to get me a new pair of shoes.” 

“She smiled real big and said, ‘Well, I like that.’

“I am so looking forward to the quartet convention. I have wanted to go there again. There are a whole bunch of new people there. They look at us differently than our predecessors did. And bless their hearts, that’s OK. Everybody has their opinion. In my mind, I have forgiven them, I have forgiven myself and I have asked God to forgive both of us.

“The Bible tells me that when you do those things, there is a place for love to bloom again.”