W. L. Richardson; Gospel Singer

W. L. Richardson, 80, a singer for the reunited a cappella gospel group Fairfield Four. Richardson, a baritone known as “Preacher,” had been undergoing chemotherapy but performed with the group until six weeks ago. The Fairfield Four was one of the most prominent gospel groups in the South during the 1940s. The group disbanded in the 1960s. Richardson, pastor at three Nashville, Tenn., churches, joined the group in 1980 after three of the original members reunited. The group since has performed at Carnegie Hall, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the Smithsonian Institution’s Festival of American Folklife. In Nashville on Tuesday.