Born in
Bessemer, Alabama, United States, he first appeared on stage at the age of four, then joined a children's gospel group at the age of 13, soon obtaining his own radio show. He organized another group after his mother sent him to
New York City following a racial incident; he continued singing after returning to attend the
Snow Hill Institute in
Snow Hill, Alabama, where he acquired the title "Professor" while teaching as a student. He moved to
Chicago in 1947, where he worked briefly with
Roberta Martin and toured with
Mahalia Jackson, then struck out on his own with his own group, the Bradford Singers, followed by another group, the Bradford Specials. He recorded his first
hit record, "Too Close To Heaven" (1954), billed as Professor Alex Bradford and the Bradford Specials, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a
gold disc, then followed it with a number of other successes in the rest of the decade. Artists such as
Little Richard imitated Bradford's energetic style, ranging from a gravelly bass to a whooping falsetto, and his flamboyant stage presence.
Ray Charles, for his part, not only borrowed some of Bradford's vocal mannerisms but based his Raelets on the Bradford Specials. His 1962 gospel song composition "Let the Lord Be Seen in Me", recorded for his
One Step & Angel on Vacation album, was also recorded in 1964 by an emerging force in Jamaican music,
Bob Marley & the Spiritual Sisters. Marley later adopted the Rastafarian faith, but along with his mother, at first he sang gospel in the local Shilo Apostolic Church. Bradford provided narration and singing for a 1967 animated short film by
Richard Williams Productions, entitled
Sailor and the Devil. In 1961, when his recording career was in decline, Bradford joined the cast of the
off-Broadway show
Black Nativity, based on the writings of
Langston Hughes, which toured Europe in 1962. A member of the Alex Bradford Singers at that time was
Madeline Bell, who settled in England after the show ended. Bradford appeared in ''
Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope'', for which he won the
Obie award in 1972. ==Death==