Walter Lee Hawkins, born May 18, 1949, in Oakland, California, was an American gospel singer, songwriter, composer, and pastor. He started his career with his brother Edwin's choir, the Northern California State Youth Choir of the Church of God in Christ. Their 1968 album featured "Oh Happy Day", a crossover hit that led to the Edwin Hawkins Singers. In the early 1970s, Walter Hawkins established the Love Center Church and formed the Love Center Choir. Their Love Alive series, beginning with Love Alive in 1975, sold over a million copies; Love Alive IV (1990) topped the Billboard Gospel Album charts for thirty-three weeks. He collaborated with various artists including Michael Bolton and Earth, Wind & Fire. Walter Lee Hawkins died of pancreatic cancer on July 11, 2010, in Ripon, California.
