Bill Pinkney’s Original Drifters legacy group still reflects the entire Legendary Drifters presence in the music industry, weaving a blend of nostalgic magic and on-stage excitement with a 21stcentury twist. Music’s Drifters represent more than the story of a single group’s success. Changes in personnel and management have led over the years to the sprouting of many Drifters permutations, but 1953 original Bill Pinkney has used the name continuously since the 1950s, and his legacy continues. Clyde McPhatter (Mount Lebanon Gospel Singers), Bill Pinkney (The Southern Knights), and Gerhart and Andrew Thrasher (The Thrasher Wonders) met while singing in gospel groups. When Atlantic Records rejected McPhatter’s trial group, these four men joined forces, signed individually with the company, and established in 1953 the foundation upon which a music legacy was subsequently built. Thirty-five years later in 1988, originals McPhatter, Pinkney, Gerhart Thrasher and four later Drifters, Johnny Moore, Ben E. King, Charlie Thomas, and Rudy Lewis, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They continue the great legacy of Ambassador Bill Pinkney with dignity, pride, and respect.
