MOUNT VERNON, Mo. -- Joyce "Dottie" Rambo, an influential gospel singer and songwriter, died early yesterday when her tour bus ran off the highway and struck an embankment. She was 74.

Seven other people on the bus were injured in the wreck east of Mount Vernon on Interstate 44, the Highway Patrol said.They were hospitalized in Springfield.

It was unclear whether the crash was related to Saturday's severe storms in the region.

Rambo, of Nashville, Tenn., was on her way to a Mother's Day performance in Texas.

Singer Dolly Parton, who recorded some of her songs, sent condolences to "everyone involved in this terrible tragedy."

"Dottie was a dear friend, a fellow singer, songwriter and entertainer, and as of late my duet singing partner."

Rambo was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame last year and the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame in 2006.

She had more than 2,500 published songs, including gospel classics such as "He Looked Beyond My Fault and Saw My Need" and the 1982 Gospel Music Association Song of the Year, "We Shall Behold Him."