One of the first concert artists to feature art song arrangements of spirituals in his public performances was tenor Roland Hayes. Both of Roland Hayes’ parents had been slaves, and Hayes viewed the spirituals as part of the proud legacy of the Black struggle in America. Initially, however, Hayes, born in Curryville, Georgia and educated at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, set out to establish himself as the first professionally successful Black singer of classical music, including his now famous performances of German lieder. After four years of unproductive tours in the intense environment of racial discrimination in the U.S., he embarked on a European tour in 1920, and encountered his first major successes during that tour. On his return to the U.S. in 1924 Hayes was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the highest honor bestowed by that organization. Hayes was now poised to receive the recognition he deserved, and he began to be showered with rave reviews of his performances everywhere he went, a trend which continued until his death in 1977.

Once established professionally, Roland Hayes incorporated spirituals as a regular part of virtually all of his concert programs, and he was the first solo artist to win wide acclaim for his skillful and sensitive interpretations of spirituals. In 1948 he published a collection of his own art song arrangements of spirituals, entitled My Songs, many of which remain popular among contemporary performers, including the noted solo concert artists Robert McFerrin, Kathleen Battle, Robert Sims, George Shirley and Thomas Young.