Dottie Rambo: The Gifted Songwriter of the Twentieth Century

We've Weather Storms Before



Thank You Sweet Lord



My Unchanging Friend



Wonder if Anyone Cares at All



Following Dottie and Buck Rambo's divorce, Dottie was still struggling with her back problems.  She also traveled a limited amount during this time.  Many people thought she was deceased because she practically had faded away from public view.  She made sparse appearances in the 1990's on on various specials such as the Gaither Homecoming series, for example.  She even performed in a Christmas special in 1994.  Things didn't dramatically improve for Dottie until she became acquainted with Larry and Judy Ferguson, a husband and wife management team.  If I heard correctly, Dottie had met them during the 1996 National Quartet Convention in Louisville.  Once Larry became Dottie's manager, she started improving physically.  He said that when he became her manager, she was doing very well just to get out of bed.  Her lungs were deteriorating and nobody was taking care of her.  I don't know all the events that took place following Dottie's divorce, but she didn't rebound physically until Larry and Judy Ferguson became involved in Dottie's life.  Once her health started improving, she started traveling on the road singing once more.  I believe she started back into full-time singing around 2002.

In 2002, Dottie went into the studio in years recording an album entitled, "Stand by the River."  She recorded that song in a duet with Dolly Parton.  Her CD became popular as a result of that duet.  Dottie also recorded two more CD's prior to her death in 2008.  Her last CD was entitled "Sheltered", which was a remake of many of her old songs with different artists such as Lulu Roman, the Whites, and Porter Wagoner, for example. 

Over the years she has received numerous awards for her songwriting and singing.  Here's a list of some of the awards she and her family have received over the years:

1994.... Songwriter of the Century Award

1981... Songwriter of the Year
            Song of the Year "We Shall Behold Him"

1991... Gospel Music Hall of Fame

2001... Lifetime Achievement Award

2001... Gospel Music Hall of Fame "The Rambos"

2002... Living Legend Award

2004... Songwriter of the Year

2008... Christian Music Hall of Fame Inductee

Next Sunday I'll conclude with my final post on "Dottie Rambo: The Gifted Songwriter of the Twentieth Century."