The Stellar Award Winning Host, Recording Artist, and Minister of Music Lonnie Hunter will be in Cleveland Saturday, June 4 at Mt. Zion Fellowship Church located at 4265 Northfield Road.
By JAMES W. WADE III
Staff Reporter
The Stellar Award Winning Host, Recording Artist, and Minister of Music Lonnie Hunter will be in Cleveland Saturday, June 4 at Mt. Zion Fellowship Church located at 4265 Northfield Road.
For years, Hunter was the host of the number one Gospel Radio Show in Chicago, ruling the morning drive time Monday through Friday from 6 to 10 a.m. on WGCI AM. At the same time, he served as Dean of Students for one of the largest school districts in the suburbs of Chicago.
Hunter, in a phone interview, said he can’t wait to come to Cleveland and enjoy the energy that the city offers. “This will be an interactive concert,” he said.
It’s been eight years since Hunter’s last CD. His new project, “I’m Back,” released in retail stores and online portals on April 26, 2011. Backed by Hunter’s choir, Structure, the brilliant new project features lively arrangements of church classics such as “Wade in the Water,” “Holy Holy Holy,” and “I Know The Lord Will Make A Way.”
Other standouts include the soulful ballad “Anyway” and an update of The Caravans’ “Holy Ghost is Moving.” The bustling CD title song features a joyful urban vamp and an inspiring “second chance” message. Within six quick weeks, the song leaped to number 15 on Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs chart and continues to build momentum.
Hunter is the youngest of 5 children and he was surrounded by gospel at a very young age, due to the fact his mother was a popular background singer for many of gospel music’s legends during his youth. She passed on to be with the Lord on his 8th birthday. It was at this time that he became determined to carry out her legacy.
Hunter graduated from Western Illinois University with a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration/Public Relations. After working in the public sector, he started Hunter Communications Group; training corporate management teams in areas such as cultural awareness/diversity, effective communications skills, effective leadership, and time and stress management. Hunter earned the Pinnacle Award of achievement for Black owned companies, awarded by the Gillette Corporation in 1999.
A Stellar award nominated artist, Hunter recorded and produced 3 CD’s with The Voices of St. Mark on the Malaco Record Label. With hits such as “Even Me” (the drip drop song), “Let’s Dance,” and “There’s Power In His Name.”
While earning his degree, he served in the U.S. Air Force for 5 years, earning and honorable discharge as a high ranking sergeant. He spent 3 years as a runway/print model for Luster Hair Care products male texturizer campaign and continued to do what God commissioned him to do in the Gospel Music Industry.
Hunter, the 2010 Stellar Award Announcer of the Year, can now be heard as the host of the syndicated “The Lonnie Hunter Show,” Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. across the country. The show can be heard throughout Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Charlotte, Maryland, Virginia, D.C., Houston, and Cleveland.
