Larry Gatlin first rose to prominence through the string of '80s successes he shared with the Gatlin Brothers, yet before forming and fronting that family act he had already built a thriving solo career that occasionally drew on support from his siblings. Born in Seminole, Texas, in 1948, he grew up steeped in country gospel traditions. He and brothers Steve and Rudy regularly harmonized in church and made sporadic appearances on local radio and television; the three also cut an album for the independent gospel label Sword & Shield. After finishing high school, Gatlin enrolled at the University of Houston and joined the gospel outfit the Imperials. The group later performed in Jimmy Dean's Las Vegas revue, where Gatlin encountered Dottie West. Impressed by his writing, she recorded two of his songs, "You're the Other Half of Me" and "Once You Were Mine," while also circulating his demo tape around Nashville and underwriting his relocation there.
Gatlin soon landed work as a background vocalist for Kris Kristofferson and, shortly afterward, signed a solo contract with Monument in 1973. He delivered his debut album, The Pilgrim, later that year; it yielded his first charting country single, "Sweet Becky Walker," which climbed into the Top 40. The 1974 single "Delta Dirt," drawn from the album Rain Rainbow, became his initial Top 20 hit. His brothers first appeared prominently on his third release, 1976's Larry Gatlin with Family & Friends, which supplied his first Top Five single, "Broken Lady." Sometimes joined by his siblings, Gatlin notched three additional Top Five entries in 1977 ("I Don't Wanna Cry," "Love Is Just a Game," and "Statues Without Hearts") and claimed his first number-one hit in 1978 with "I Just Wish You Were Someone I Love." Upon switching from Monument to Columbia in 1979, he began crediting the Gatlin Brothers Band on every recording, beginning with that year's chart-topping "All the Gold in California." Although subsequent releases carried assorted variations of the Gatlin Brothers name and frequently placed Larry out front, the music remained fundamentally that of the Gatlin Brothers from that point forward.
The Gatlin Brothers maintained strong commercial momentum through most of the '80s, accumulating nine further Top Ten singles and another number one with 1983's "Houston (Means I'm One Day Closer to You)." Their final major success arrived in 1987 with the Top Five "Talkin' to the Moon," yet their polished country-pop style was soon overshadowed by the new traditionalist wave. Following several years of waning sales, the group elected to retire in 1991 and mounted a well-received farewell tour. Larry took the lead in the Broadway staging of The Will Rogers Follies, and in 1993 the act launched its own theater in Branson, Missouri. In 1998 Gatlin issued the solo gospel album In My Life along with the memoir All the Gold in California. The group kept performing at its Myrtle Beach, North Carolina venue, while 2004 brought the concert recording Live at Billy Bob's Texas and the Dualtone collection Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers Sing Their Family Gospel Favorites. The ambitious The Pilgrimage appeared on Curb Records in 2009. A budget-priced anthology of spiritual material by Gatlin and the Gatlin Family, titled Gospel Gold, reached stores in January 2018.
