In her story for the December-January 2016 edition of Mysterious Ways magazine, contributing editor Danielle Eliska Lyle shares the story of Ernest Armand Huss, born in 1922 in the Ivory Coast to an Ivorian mother and a French father and raised in France.
Huss was imprisoned by the Nazis during World War II and eventually sent to a concentration camp, and it was during those bleak days that he discovered his God-given gift for singing. After the war, he changed his name to John William and pursued an acclaimed and successful career as a singer. For the twenty-fifth anniversary of his freedom, he was invited to sing at a televised Mass. Inspired by that experience, he devoted the rest of his career to singing spirituals.
Click through to enjoy this selection of William’s recordings.