Mosie Lister

Thomas Mosie Lister (September 8, 1921 – February 12, 2015) was an American singer and Baptist minister. He was best known for writing the Gospel songs "Where No One Stands Alone", "Till the Storm Passes By", "Then I Met the Master" and "How Long Has It Been?" As a singer, he was an original member in The Statesmen Quartet, the Sunny South Quartet, and the Melody Masters. In 1976 Lister was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and the Southern Gospel Music Association in 1997. His songs have been recorded by nearly every Southern Gospel artist.

Personal background

Thomas Mosie Lister was born in Cochran, Georgia, to Willis and Pearl Lister who were both musical and attempted to teach their son music at an early age on their farm in the Empire District of Dodge County. They placed the young Lister in the church choir, but soon discovered that he could not distinguish musical tones. It wasn't until he began studying the violin that his ear training abilities began to improve and by the time he was a teenager he was already studying harmony and composition. He studied music at the Vaughan School of Music in Tennessee in 1939.

Lister joined the Navy in World War II. At the end of his tour, he enrolled in Middle Georgia College where he continued to study harmony, counterpoint, arranging, piano and organ. In 1946 he met Wylene Whitten. They married that same year, moved to Atlanta, and in 1949 gave birth to identical twin daughters. After three decades as a Gospel singer, songwriter, and arranger, Lister, became an ordained Baptist minister. Shortly thereafter, he retired from professional singing and devoted his attention to writing, and in 1953 he formed the Mosie Lister Publishing Company which later merged into Lillenas Publishing Company of Kansas City, Missouri in October 1969.

Awards and nominations Year Association Result 1976 Gospel Music Hall of Fame Inducted 1997 Southern Gospel Music Association Inducted