The most successful of all of the African-American gospel music groups who sang in the jubilee quartet style.

Founded as the Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet in Norfolk, Virginia in 1934 by Robert Ford, A.C. Griffin, Willie Johnson, William Langford, Henry Owens and Orlandus Wilson, they began as a traditional jubilee quartet, combining the clever arrangements associated with barbershop quartets with rhythms borrowed from the blues and jazz-like scat singing.

The makeup of the group changed over the years, as some members were drafted during the war and new members were brought in to replace those who had retired or left to join other groups. One notable member was bass singer Cliff Givens, who left in 1944 to join the Ink Spots.

They achieved regional fame through their radio program in Columbia, South Carolina in the 1930s. They became nationally popular after John Hammond presented them as part of the 1938 extravaganza From Spirituals to Swing in Carnegie Hall. They soon had a nationwide radio programme, appearances at Café Society in 1940 and the opportunity to sing at F.D. Roosevelt's inauguration in 1941, becoming the first black musical group to sing at Constitution Hall. They continued to be popular during World War Two, making several appearances in Hollywood films and singing secular music, including some unique popular front songs that mixed humour with political commentary.

The quartet lost their preeminent position in gospel music after the war, when they faced competition from the newer hard gospel quartets. They continued in their old style, offering sharper political commentary, but losing much of their audience to quartets such as the Dixie Hummingbirds and the Soul Stirrers.

They revived their career in 1955, however, when they toured Europe for the first time, where they became widely popular. The group moved to Paris in 1959 and has continued touring, primarily in Europe, since then.