The Hummingbirds inspired a number of imitators, such as Jackie Wilson and James Brown, who adapted the shouting style and enthusiastic showmanship of hard gospel to secular themes to help create soul music in the 1960s.

The group was formed in 1928 in Greenville, South Carolina, by James B. Davis and his classmate Barney Parks under the name the Sterling High School Quartet.

Davis recalls how they changed their name to the Dixie Hummingbirds: I figured that was the only bird could fly both backwards and forwards.

Since that was how our career seemed to be going [laughs], I figure that was a good name, and the guys went along with it[1]The Hummingbirds traveled around the South singing spirituals.

[citation needed] Tucker introduced energetic showmanship – running through the aisles, jumping off stage, falling to his knees in prayer – copied by many quartets that followed.

Most importantly, they were promised work from Charlie Newsome, a booking agent they had met in Jacksonville, who had been managing a group called the Royal Harmony Singers.

In 1942, the Hummingbirds would make the move north with James Davis, Barney Parks, Ira Tucker, Wilson Baker and William Henry.

Charlie Newsome arranged an audition for the Hummingbirds with John Hammond, an unofficial musical director for the Café Society, a black and tan club in New York.

In 1973, Robey sold Peacock to ABC Records, which released a cover of "Loves Me Like a Rock," produced by Walter "Kandor" Kahn and the group's lead vocalist Ira Tucker, which reached #72 on Billboard Magazine's Top 100 R&B Singles chart.

[5][6] Carlton Lewis III joined in the 2003, and then sometime after he left but then returned when Ira Tucker got ill.[7] In 2003, the Hummingbirds were the subject of an award-winning book about their 75-year career span, Great God A'Mighty!

In February 2008, the first feature-length documentary/concert film featuring the life and history of the Dixie Hummingbirds was released in commemoration of their extraordinary eighty years as performers.

The Dixie Hummingbirds: Eighty Years Young has been shown on the Gospel Music Channel and has played at numerous film festivals.

Produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker Jeff Scheftel, and executive produced by University of Hawaii musicologist Jay Junker, the film is now available on DVD, featuring extensive interviews with Ira Tucker Sr., Abraham Rice, Cornell McKnight, Lyndon Jones, Willie Coleman, Torrey Nettles, and William Bright with archival footage, and following the current group as they perform in numerous venues and rehearse under Mr. Tucker's spirited guidance, in their hometown of Philadelphia, and across the vast landscape of America.

The group continued with the lineup of William Bright, Lyndon Baines Jones, Carlton Lewis III, Torrey Nettles and Cornell McKnight, thereby preserving the legacy left by the original members.