Founded by southern gospel artist Rex Nelon in 1977, The Nelons were initially known as The Rex Nelon Singers. An offshoot of family group The Lefevres, Rex Nelson recruited lead vocalist Rodney Swan, soprano Janet Paschal, tenor Jerry Thompson, and his daughter Kelly Nelon (alto) to form the original line-up of the group. Their line-up would change several times over the course of their career. The Rex Nelon Singers released their debut album, The Sun’s Coming Up, in 1977. After nearly a dozen more albums, they changed their name to The Nelons by the time of the release of their 1985 album In One Accord. Rex’s daughter Kelly Nelon left the group in 1991 after the release of their acclaimed album A New Generation. She had been married to the group’s lead vocalist Jerry Thompson, who joined in 1977. However, he left the group with her, but the duo had personal issues and returned to The Nelons (they would eventually divorce in 1998). New vocalist Jason Clark joined The Nelons in 1997, and after Kelly was divorced from Thompson, the two started a relationship, later marrying in 2001. Group founder Rex Nelon died of a heart attack on January 24, 2000, at the age of 68. Continuing without their founder, the group underwent many more line-up changes before finally settling on Kelly Nelon Clark, Jason Clark, and Kelly and Jerry Thompson’s daughters Amber Nelon Thompson and Autumn Nelon Streetman. Beginning in 2014, this version of The Nelons became very popular and continued to record and tour. Tragically, Kelly Nelson Clark, Jason Clark, and Amber Nelon Thompson died in a plane crash on July 26, 2024.
