Dorsey wrote the world's most popular gospel-blues song after his wife and newborn son died unexpectedly on August 26 and 27, 1932. That song, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" has been translated into 32 languages. Aretha Franklin recorded "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" in 1956, the same year Tennessee Governor Frank Clement recited it during his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. It became the anthem of Fannie Lou Hamer's Mississippi Summer. Dorsey's friend, Mahalia Jackson, sang it at Martin Luther King, Jr.'s funeral. Elvis Presley's recording of Dorsey's second-most-popular gospel song, "Peace in the Valley", sold millions of copies.