Wilmer M. Broadnax (1922 – 1992) gospel singer

In the 1930 US Census, Augustus Flowers of Louisiana, registered himself, his wife Gussie (born Gussie Broadenax), his two stepsons, 13-year-old Wilmer Broadnax and 10-year-old William Broadnax, and his daughter 8-year-old Armatha Broadnax (presumably Armatha had her mother’s maiden name in that she was born before her parents 1927 marriage). We hear no more of Armatha.

In the late 1930s, the Broadnax brothers, William and Wilmer sang in Houston’s St Paul’s Gospel Singers. In 1939 they moved to Los Angeles and sang with the Southern Gospel Singers. They then formed the Golden Echoes.

Gospel music authority Anthony Heilbut writes in his book , The Fan Who Knew Too Much, 2012:

“Wilmer Broadnax was a very short, high tenor, nicknamed ‘Little Ax,’ in part because of his size, in part because his older brother, ‘Big Ax,’ was a popular baritone. Initially, his voice was as sweet, clear, and poignant as that of his model, R.H. Harris, who served as Sam Cooke’s gospel mentor. Then, as quartet singers grew louder and blunter, he became a heroic screamer, holding his own with some of the strongest leads, Archie Brownlee or Silas Steele.”

After William left for Atlanta, Wilmer joined the Spirit of Memphis, one of the highest-paid gospel groups of that time. In the 1960s he was one of the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi. He continued to record occasionally into the 1980s.

In 1992 70-year-old Wilmer was living in Philadelphia. In a fit of jealousy because his 42-year-old girlfriend was in another man’s car, he dragged her out and waved a knife. He was disarmed, but the girlfriend grabbed the knife and stabbed him three times. She was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. The autopsy revealed that Wilmer had a female body.

• “Girlfriend Guilty in Stabbing” Philly.com, February 05, 1993. Archive.
• Anthony Heilbut. The Fan Who Knew Too Much: Aretha Franklin, the Rise of the Soap Opera, Children of the Gospel Church, and Other Meditations. Knopf, 2012:29-30.
• Oliver Gettell. “Little Axe illuminates transgender gospel singer Willmer Broadnax”. Entertainment, March 01, 2016. Online.
• Stephen a Maglott. “Wilmer Broadnax”. Ubuntu Biography Project, December 28, 2017. Online.
• “A tenor passes: Wilmer Broadnax”. The Untitled Black Lesbian Elder Project. Online.

EN.Wikipedia.

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Presumably the elder brother, Wilmer, died in the 1930s, and Armatha took his name. Wilmer, the singer, was Little Ax with his elder brother William being Big Ax. William was Armatha’s elder brother, but  younger brother to the original Wilmer.


Most articles, including EN.Wikipedia, say that Wilmer Broadnax was born in Houston in 1916. That was the elder brother. The singer was born in Louisiana in 1922.