The Masters Five or Masters V was a Southern Gospel Music quartet founded in 1980 by Hovie Lister

Hovie Lister

Hovie Franklin Lister was an American gospel pianist.Lister was born in Greenville, South Carolina, and learned piano from age six. He accompanied a singing group composed of his father and three of his uncles at 14, and toured with Mordecai Ham at the same age...

 as a special consolidation of well-known performers from The Statesmen Quartet and The Blackwood Brothers

The Blackwood Brothers

The Blackwood Brothers Quartet are an eight-time Grammy award-winning American Southern Gospel group. They have been around for 76 years, and were pioneers in the Christian music industry.-Musical career:...

. The group featured J.D. Sumner as bass, Rosie Rozell as tenor, James Blackwood

James Blackwood

James Webre Blackwood was an American Gospel singer and one of the founding members of legendary Southern Gospel quartet The Blackwood Brothers.-Biography:...

 and Jake Hess

Jake Hess

Jake Hess was an American Grammy Award-winning southern gospel singer.-Life:Hess was born Manchild Hess December 24, 1927, in Limestone County, Alabama...

 alternating between lead and baritone, and Lister on piano. Their self-titled debut album, The Masters V, won the 1981 Grammy Award

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

 for best traditional gospel performance

Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance, Traditional

The Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance, Traditional was awarded from 1978 to 1983.Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were presented, for works released in the previous year.-1980s:*Grammy Awards of 1983...

. The quartet subsequently endured several personnel changes, often due to health and age-related issues. The group's final performance was in 1988.

Discography

• The Masters V (1981) Skylite
  Skylite
  Skylite is a Memphis based gospel music label started by The Statesmen Quartet and The Blackwood Brothers in 1959. Along with The Blackwood Brothers and The Statesmen Quartet, Skylite signed, among others, The Speer Family and the Oak Ridge Quartet...
  
   SLP 6256; reissued as How Great Thou Art (1988) Temple Records
• O What a Savior (1982 ) Skylite SLP 6265 (Rozell, Blackwood, Hess, Sumner, Lister)
• The Masters V Present Their Majestic Bass, J.D. Sumner (1982) Skylite
• The Legendary Masters V (1982) Skylite SLP 6282 (Rozell, Blackwood, Hess, Sumner, Lister)
• Featuring… (1983) Skylite (Nielsen, Blackwood, Hess, Sumner, Lister)
• Live at the Joyful Noise (1983) Skylite (Nielsen, Blackwood, Hess, Sumner, Lister)
• Thru the Years (1984) Skylite (Warren, Blackwood, Hess, Sumner, Lister)
• Good Things (1984) Skylite (Warren, Blackwood, Hess, Sumner, Lister)
• The Master’s Hymns (1985) Skylite (Warren, Blackwood, Hess, Sumner, Lister)
• The Masters V Present Their Magnificent Bass, J.D. Sumner (1985) Skylite (Warren, Blackwood, Hess, Sumner, Lister)
• Sing Fabulous Blackwood Brothers Hits (1985) Skylite (Warren, Blackwood, Hess, Sumner, Lister)
• The Masters V Present 50 Years with the Fabulous James Blackwood (1985) Skylite Records
• Classics of Yesteryear (1986) Skylite SLP 6363 (Warren, Blackwood, Hess, Sumner, Lister)
• Have a Little Faith (1986) Merinet
• Sing Me a Song About Jesus (1987) Riversong (Warren, Blackwood, Hess, Sumner, Lister)
• The Legend Lives On (1988) Skylite (Nielsen, Toney, Hill, Sumner, Lister)
• Sing Award Winning Songs of JD Sumner (1988) Skylite
• Superlative Bass JD Sumner (1988)
• The Original Masters Five (1991) Bibletone Records
  Bibletone Records
  Bibletone Records was organized in 1942 in New York City by Arthur Becker.The company was the first all-gospel label to release 33 1/3 rpm albums of their releases...
  
  

Members

• Hovie Lister
  Hovie Lister
  Hovie Franklin Lister was an American gospel pianist.Lister was born in Greenville, South Carolina, and learned piano from age six. He accompanied a singing group composed of his father and three of his uncles at 14, and toured with Mordecai Ham at the same age...
  
   1980-1988
• J.D. Sumner 1980-1988
• James Blackwood
  James Blackwood
  James Webre Blackwood was an American Gospel singer and one of the founding members of legendary Southern Gospel quartet The Blackwood Brothers.-Biography:...
  
   1980-1987
• Jake Hess
  Jake Hess
  Jake Hess was an American Grammy Award-winning southern gospel singer.-Life:Hess was born Manchild Hess December 24, 1927, in Limestone County, Alabama...
  
   1980-1987
• Rosie Rozell 1980-1983
• Shaun Nielsen 1983/1988
• Steve Warren 1984-1987
• Chris Hess
• Tommy Thompson
• Buddy Burton
• Charles Yates
• Ed Hill 1987-1988
• Jack Toney 1988