They’ve come a long way since first getting together on the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind Campus in 1939.

And the list of honors for the group of vocalists who became known as The Blind Boys of Alabama keeps growing, with the group named this month to the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.

The Blind Boys of Alabama are among six other Alabama performers honored with the announcement in 2010.

The Alabama Music Hall of Fame will hold its 13th Induction Banquet for the honorees and guests Thursday, March 25 at the Convention Center in Montgomery.

David Johnson, executive director for the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, called the award the organization’s “most prestigious honor.”

There were five founding members of The Blind Boys of Alabama, who were first known as The Happy Land Jubilee Singers.

In 1939, AIDB classmates George Scott (deceased), Jimmy Carter (now 78 and still making appearances), Clarence Fountain (tours as his health allows), Ollie Thomas (deceased) and Johhny Fields (deceased) and several other classmates started playing and singing together, mostly at churches and schools in the Talladega area.

It was in 1944 when some on the group decided to try and make a living doing what they enjoyed most, their music, according to Lynne Hanner, executive director of educational advancement and the AIDB Foundation for AIDB.

At the time, the members ranged in age from Carter, the youngest, at age 12, to Scott, who was 23.

The group’s first professional performance came in 1944, when they sang as the Happy Land Jubilee Singers on a radio program.

Before long, the group centered their activities around the Birmingham area, traveling throughout Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee to perform. Their manager at the time was John Goodman.

At this point, Carter was not traveling with the group because of his age.

Carter stayed in school, at his mother’s insistence, he recalled, Hanner said, and later rejoined the singers after he graduated in1953.

Early highlights of The Blind Boys career includes having their own radio program in 1944 and 1945 on Birmingham’s WKAX.

Their first record was made in 1948, recorded by Coleman Records.

That same night, a promoter set up a concert featuring The Happy land Jubilee Singers and a group from Mississippi, billing the event as a contest between the Blind Boys of Mississippi and the Blind Boys of Alabama.

That’s how the singers became known as The Blind Boys, the name stuck from the event, with the singers performing traditional gospel music using the new name.

After performing in 1983 in the award winning Broadway Gospel show “The Gospel at Colonus,” The Blind Boys began to earn a younger audience. They incorporated contemporary music into their performances and working with performers that included Mahalia Jackson, Tom Petty, Peter Gabriel and others.

The Blind Boys received a Grammy Award in 2002 for their recording “Spirit of the Century,” with three other Grammys to follow, for “Higher Ground,” “Go Tell It on the Mountain” and “There Will Be a Light.”

The Blind Boys were inducted to the Christian Music Hall of Fame in 2007, and recently released a new recording, “Down in New Orleans.”

In 2009, The Blind Boys received two Dove Awards, wining for each of their nominations for Best Traditional Gospel Song for “Free At Last,” and for “Best Traditional Gospel Album” for “Down in New Orleans.”

In February, 2008, The Blind Boys of Alabama returned to the AIDB campus for their first concert there since leaving school.

The occasion of the visit was for AIDB’s 150th Anniversary Celebration held in 2008.

During the anniversary event, AIDB President Dr. Terry Graham presented the singers with AIDB’s first Joseph Henry Johnson Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award during their visit.

The Blind Boys of Alabama performed with recording artist Lou Reed on The Late Show With David Letterman Jan. 21.

Their most recent recording, “Duets,” released in October, features recordings made with artists that include Reed, Bonnie Raitt, Ben Harper and many others.