Gloria Spencer

Early life

Spencer was born in Steelton, Pennsylvania in 1937. She and her two sisters were all born with a thyroid glandular condition that led to rapid weight gain. As an adult, Spencer stood 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) and weighed 625 pounds (283 kg).

She began singing church solos at the age of three and taught herself to play the piano shortly thereafter.

Recording career

After Spencer graduated from high school, she worked as typist at the capital in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania during the week (she reportedly typed 115 words a minute). On the weekends, she toured the East Coast singing gospel music. In the early 1970s, Spencer was signed to Jaywalking Records. Her debut album, Gloria's Views of Glory, was released in 1972. In 2007, the album was reissued online as a digital download by Perfect Records and re-titled, I Got It. Her second album, For Once In My Life, was released in 1976 on Creed Records. The Creed Records release contained a mix of gospel standards and new works, including standards like "Amazing Grace". Her rendition of the gospel standard "I'll Fly Away" is preceded by a spoken word introduction wherein Spencer describes the funeral of her older sister, who died weighing 628 pounds (285 kg).

Spencer's handlers at Creed Records came up with the idea of promoting her as the "World's Largest Gospel Singer" as a way of gaining interest and attention. She often told stories to media outlets designed to gain interest based on her weight; among them were the story that she required three airline seats in order to fly and that she once had a piano bench break underneath her during a performance. (She told the Gospel News Journal in 1972 that she "kept right on playing - from the floor.")

Personal life and death

While touring, Spencer met Reverend David Gray, a counselor at Kittrell College. They were married in 1974 at the Macedonia Baptist Church in Harrisburg. Gray was supportive of Spencer's career and often accompanied her on the road.

On April 9, 1975, Spencer was admitted to Charlottesville Memorial Hospital in Charlottesville, North Carolina after experiencing chest pains. Three days later, she died of congestive heart failure at the age of 39. At the time of her death, Spencer weighed 797 pounds (362 kg). Her two-day viewing and funeral were held at the Macedonia Baptist Church in Harrisburg, the same church Spencer and her husband were married. Then Harrisburg mayor Harold A. Swenson attended Spencer's funeral while Shirley Caesar performed "Stand By Me". Seventeen pallbearer were needed to carry Spencer's 82 inch wide casket.