Musician Squire Parsons Jr. has gained national renown in the field of gospel music as a singer and songwriter. Parsons was born April 4, 1948, in Newton, Roane County. He attended Spencer High School and is a 1970 graduate of West Virginia Institute of Technology, where he earned a degree in music. In 1975, he became the baritone singer for the Kingsmen Quartet, thus launching his public singing career. Parsons, no longer with the Kingsmen, is best known for his 1981 hit, "Sweet Beulah Land," which was voted favorite song of the year by Singing News, a gospel music publication. He has written numerous other modern classics, including "Master of the Sea," "The Broken Rose," "Oh, What a Moment," and "He Came to Me." All told, Parsons has written more than 600 gospel songs.

He has been voted Favorite Baritone two years, and Favorite Gospel Songwriter five years in the Singing News annual competition. Squire Parsons and his wife, Linda, live in Leicester, North Carolina. They have four children.