‘God Will Help Us Through Anything’: In Final Interview Before Their Untimely Deaths, The Nelons Reflect on Their Music & Legacy

In the world of Southern gospel music, few names are more revered than The Nelons. Family patriarch Rex Nelon began his career with The LeFevres before launching The Rex Nelon Singers in 1977, and following his death in 2000, daughter Kelly Nelon Clark continued shepherding the group. They enjoyed a successful new era with a lineup that featured Kelly; her husband, Jason Clark; and daughters Amber Nelon Kistler and Autumn Nelon Streetman.  

On July 26, the music world was stunned by the news that Kelly, Jason and Amber, along with four others, were killed when their private plane crashed in Wyoming, en route from Georgia to Seattle. The only surviving member of the singing group is daughter Autumn, who had flown on a commercial flight from Nashville to Seattle with her husband, Jamie. While the investigation into the crash is ongoing, early reports have indicated there may have been a malfunction with the autopilot.

The Nelons were on their way to Seattle to board the ship for the annual Gaither Homecoming Cruise to Alaska. Bill and Gloria Gaither and Karen Peck met Autumn and Jamie at the hotel in Seattle to comfort them, then gathered other artists to tell them the tragic news, which rocked the close-knit Southern gospel community. 

Inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2016, The Nelons are known for such classics as “Come Morning,” which was awarded Southern Gospel Song of the Decade in the ’80s, and “O for a Thousand Tongues,” as well as more recent hits such as “If God Pulled Back the Curtain,” which won the Gospel Music Association’s Dove Award for bluegrass/country/roots recorded song in 2021, one of the group’s 10 Doves. Kelly is a 2024 inductee into the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame. 

Autumn, who is expecting a baby boy in December, is left to continue the group’s legacy. In a stunning show of strength, she took the stage with The Isaacs to sing “Family Chain” at the Nelons’ memorial service in Roopville, Ga., on Aug. 6.

“People have asked me, ‘How did you get up there and sing at the funeral?’ And I told them, ‘This is what we do. We sing in good times and bad times,’ ” she tells Billboard. “The Lord just gave me the strength to get up there and do it.”

The Nelons’ final album, Loving You, will arrive Friday (Aug. 30) through Daywind Music. “Obviously, we had no idea that this was going to happen,” Autumn says, “but I know God had a plan, and he knew that this was going to happen even when we didn’t know. I think that this album was made for this time and each song will mean something to everybody. [It’s music] that anybody can relate to. I know it means something to me.” 

On the morning of July 23, just days before the plane crash, Kelly, Jason, Amber and Autumn shared their thoughts about the new album with Billboard over a lively Zoom conversation. It was Kelly’s, Jason’s and Amber’s last interview.

What do you feel this album has to say to your audience right now?
Kelly Nelon Clark This morning, I went to the business license office for a venue, and the lady looked at my name and she said, “I know who you are.” She said, “I have listened to your music since way back. I remember you being on the Gospel Singing Jubilee every Sunday morning, and I have used your music to get me through some of the hardest times in my life.” That made my morning! 

That’s what is important — that God uses what we do and what we sing. I feel the same way about this new project. I feel it’s got the lyrical content that the world needs to hear. I’m so excited about it! I love all the music and the songs, but I love the lyrics about how God will help us through anything that we will go through, anything. We look out in our audiences — we’re starting to put the songs on the stage — and you can see the people in the audience. Tears just flow.

The lead single from the album, “There’s a Hole in the Heart,” was written by Bill Gaither and Larry Gatlin. How did you come to record that one?
Jason Clark We were in Bill’s office watching a private screening of the movie Reagan. Some of the producers of the film had asked us to contribute some music. Afterward, Bill said, “I’ve got some lyrics I’ve got to read you,” so we went to his office, and he read us these lyrics: “There’s a hole in the heart of this country,” and he said, “I’ve been writing songs for over 70 years and I think every song has a time and a season, and it’s time for this song.” That was the first song we recorded when we went back to the farm.

Why do you feel it’s an appropriate song for this time?
Amber Nelon Kistler We are so divided right now, probably more than we’ve ever been, as a nation. This song actually gives hope where it can truly be found — not in a political candidate, not in government. You’re not going to find hope on the news. That’s pretty obvious to anybody who watches any news station, but you’re only going to find it in the Lord. He’s the one that can fill any void or fear you may have about the future. You don’t have to worry because he already knows what’s going to happen.

This song truly is a movement, and we’ve seen it happen. Churches have put the lyrics of this song on their church signs. We’ve started giving out yard signs that people are being able to put in their yards. We’ve encouraged them not to be divisive with neighbors. You don’t have to put out a political sign. You can put out this sign and you can bring unity to everybody and bring real hope.

Jason, you wrote or co-wrote six of the 10 songs on Loving You. Did you have a vision of what you wanted this album to be as you started writing?
Jason We were very intentional about writing. I invited some of my best writing buddies, Joel Lindsey and Wayne Haun, and they were gracious enough to come to our farm in Georgia. I usually go to Nashville to write, and I said, “Guys, I would really love it if we could write this entire record at the farm.” So they flew in, and we spent a week here at the farm. I think we wrote about 15 songs, and several of those ended up on the record.

There are four producers on the record: Jason, Bill, Gordon Mote and Wayne Haun. That can sometimes result in an album that sounds fragmented, but this is a very cohesive record. How did you accomplish that?
Jason I’ve produced a lot of our stuff over the years, but we have such deep relationships with Gordon, Bill and Wayne. Gordon probably was the driving force behind a lot of the rhythm, and sonically, it’s probably one of my favorite records that we’ve ever done. Bill is a big idea guy. Wayne’s strongest suit is he understands the strength of a song. If you will let him, he will make sure you’ve got commercial songs on your records. He’s a great song coach. All of us bring in those different things. I’m always going to be driving the harmony toward our records because we’re a family that sings harmony.

You have some specials guests on the album, including the Gaither Vocal Band and Joseph Habedank on “Moses.” NT Martin is featured on “River of Peace (Rio de Paz).” How did that collaboration come about?
Jason We searched forever to find someone to sing the Spanish part. We couldn’t get anybody in Nashville [whose] schedule worked out, so I went to TikTok and found this famous singer from Spain. I messaged him and said, “Hey, we’ve got this song and we need a singer. Would you consider singing it with us?” He said, “Yes.” We sent it to him and gave him some coaching on where we wanted his parts and the harmonies with Amber.  He sent it back with the Spanish parts to teach Amber how to sing Spanish with him. 

“Hand of an Unseen God,” written by Jason, Kenna Turner West and Don Poythress, has a really powerful lyric. Is there a story behind that one?
Jason Going into the writing session that day, I got a call from Amber, and I’ve asked her permission to share this story in interviews. We were waiting on her ultrasound to find out the gender of her baby. When she called, she couldn’t speak. She had learned that she had miscarried, so we went into that writing session really heavy-hearted and then literally two hours later, I get a call from our other baby girl, Autumn. She tells me — and we were completely blown away by this news — that she just found out that she was pregnant. So I’m like, “Lord, it really is true that you weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice,” and sometimes in the Christian life, you do it the same day. Don was like, “Man, we need to write that,” and so we began to write that song: “In my weeping, in my rejoicing, when my world is good or when it falls apart, I am held by the hand of an unseen God.”

The album closes with “We’ve Always Had a Song,” written by Jason, Wayne Haun and Joel Lindsey. With your lengthy history in gospel music, Kelly, what does this song mean to you?
Kelly The first thing that I ever remember really was music. My father was with the LeFevres at the time, and the first song I remember, he was teaching me “The Rains Came Down and the Floods Came Up.” I never dreamed that that little song would carry me through a lot of difficult and trying times. It makes you realize that songs and music heal the soul when you are going through difficulties, so for me being in the music business and ministry, there’s always been a song that has kept me going.

Kelly, you’ve been in Southern gospel music a long time. How does this season feel, to be carrying on your family’s legacy with your husband and two daughters?
Kelly It’s a great time. I feel like I’m on the other side. I’m 64, so I’ve had a lot of life up until this point, but now this is my plan — and I hope it’s God’s plan — but I’d like to see my grandchildren up there singing. This is a really good time, and I’m excited about what the Lord is doing. The older people loved when my daddy was here, but the new and younger crowd love Amber and Autumn so much. A long time ago, people would come up to me when I was young and say, “Oh, if you could only see how your dad looks at you.” I really didn’t understand that too much, but now I do because when I see them sing and I listen to their voices and the anointing that the Lord has given them, I’m so proud. So now I understand what exactly they were saying about my dad and now it’s me.

Amber and Autumn, how do you feel about being part of this musical dynasty?
Autumn When I was young, I knew that one day I would eventually be up there. But I’ll tell you, when I first started, I didn’t want any part of it, just because I was scared to sing in front of people … But now honestly, I couldn’t see myself doing anything else. And now that I’m having a child, I hope that he grows up on the road and gets to travel to all these amazing places. I’m so blessed.

Amber I wanted to sing since the time I came out [of the womb], so I was a total opposite of Autumn. I love being onstage. I started on the Gaither Homecoming Kid’s videos at 4 years old, so Gloria Gaither had me working on the stage as a toddler. I’m forever grateful for that because there are hardly any other kids that could say that they’ve had the life that Autumn and I have had … I just hope that when our time is up that we’ve made a mark on another generation that will follow in our footsteps.

 Any additional comments on the new record?
Jason When we came out of COVID and were starting to inch our way back to touring and recording, we really had a new revival and new focus. I think you sense that in this record. It sounds fresh. We wanted to sound like it was the first record we ever made — and we’ve been doing this forever. We really have invested so much energy into this from every detail, and I’m hoping it’s going to find its way to some lady in Venezuela or maybe some person in Spain, or maybe some person driving a truck on the back roads in Kentucky. Wherever it may find its way, we trust the Lord with the results, but this is our best offering. Here it is. Take it and use it.