Edwin Hawkins’ funk style arrangement of the hymn "Oh Happy Day" has a long pedigree: It began as a hymn written in the mid-18th century ("Oh happy day that fixed my choice") by English clergyman Phillip Doddridge (based on Acts 8:35) set to an earlier melody (1704) by J. A. Freylinghausen. By the mid-19th century it had been given a new melody by Edward F. Rimbault and was commonly used for baptismal or confirmation ceremonies in the UK and USA. The 20th century saw its adaptation from 3/4 to 4/4 time and this new arrangement by Hawkins, which contains the repeated refrain only (all of the original verses being omitted).

The Edwin Hawkins Singers began as The Northern California State Youth Choir of the Church of God in Christ, Inc. and was founded in 1967 by Hawkins and Betty Watson. Members were aged 17–25. As was common in gospel circles they produced and distributed their own LP: Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord, recorded live in church. "Oh Happy Day", featuring Dorothy Morrison as lead vocalist, was picked up by a local DJ and subsequently released commercially. Aretha Franklin had already brought strong gospel stylings to the pop charts with songs such as "Think" (1968), but a hymn had never “crossed over” before. "Oh Happy Day" soared into the US Top 5, winning a Grammy and massive sales worldwide.

Hawkins' arrangement quickly became a “standard” and has been recorded by hundreds of artists. It was included on the RIAA Songs of the Century list.

Hawkins is still active and is now an elder statesman for the Contemporary Gospel style which "Oh Happy Day" helped found.

This song served as an inspiration for the Nick Cave song "Deanna" (1988), which appears on Tender Prey and B-Sides & Rarities.

George Harrison has stated the song was a primary inspiration in the writing of his 1970 international hit single "My Sweet Lord".

The song has appeared in many movies, but most notably Whoopi Goldberg's Sister Act 2, with then-15 year old Ryan Toby singing lead. The song also appears in Big Momma's House, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps and in David LaChapelle's 2005 movie "RIZE". In the United Kingdom, it was played by Bruno Brookes on BBC Radio 1 in the early hours of April 10, 1992 to herald the Conservative Party's fourth consecutive election victory. It has also more recently appeared being sung by a London choir in an episode of the BBC TV drama Ashes to Ashes (Episode 3 - first aired in the UK on 21 February 2008).

This song appeared in episode 8 of the 2006 Japanese TV drama My Boss My Hero.

The song also appeared in the 2007 movie License to Wed.

In addition to the Hawkins Singers, the song has been recorded by a number of other artists: