Vestal Goodman

Who was Vestal Goodman?

Vestal Goodman was a singer who performed in the Southern Gospel genre for more than half a century. She is known both as a solo performer and as a founding member of official The Happy Goodman Family, the first was actually her husband and his brothers and sisters, one of the pioneering groups in southern Gospel.

Vestal Goodman was the fourth of six children. She began singing in her home church. Her original intent was to study for the Metropolitan Opera, but being raised in church she felt compelled to sing Gospel music.

She married Howard Goodman, a preacher nine years her senior, on November 7, 1949. They had a son Rick, and a daughter Vicki. They pastored churches and sang for congregations across the country, and they, along with Howard's two brothers Sam and Rusty, soon became known as "The Happy Goodman Family," helping pave the way for Southern Gospel music during the 1960s.

With the formation of Word Records in the early 1960s, Vestal and The Happy Goodman Family were the flagship artists signed to the company. In 1969, she won the first ever Female Vocalist of the Year Dove Award. As a natural step in her career, Vestal Goodman released her first solo album, "Hallelujah!" in 1971, from which came the well-known single, "It'll All Be Over But the Shoutin'."