Inducted 1999

Born January 19, 1932 near Asheville, North Carolina, Rex Nelon fell in love with Southern Gospel quartet singing as a young boy. After service in the Marine Corps in the early 1950s, he began singing with local, part-time groups in the Asheville area. 

By 1955, he had made a mark for himself and secured a position singing bass for the Homeland Harmony Quartet. In 1957, Rex accepted a job singing and playing guitar with the LeFevres and, over the next two decades, became one of the best known personalities in the industry. 

In the mid-1970s, Rex gained ownership of the LeFeveres and, after the retirement of Eva Mae LeFevre in 1977, changed the name of the group to the Rex Nelon Singers. Surrounding himself with a talented group of young vocalists and musicians, he too the group (subsequently known as the Nelons) to the top of the Southern Gospel Music industry. 

Rex was also influential as a gospel music publisher. By the 1990s, his publishing interest comprised one of the largest holdings of Southern Gospel Music material.