The 4 Renegades

The Four Renegades is the Barbershop Harmony Society’s 1965 International Champion. First organized in 1955 as the “Up-An-Atoms” they went through several personnel changes. The first version of the quartet under the name “Four Renegades” featured Warren “Buzz” Haeger on tenor, Joe Sullivan on lead, Jim Maher on baritone, and Tom Felgen on bass. Buzz dropped out for a short period of time and was replaced by Claire DeFrew. Not long after that the quartet broke up due to time constraints. They got back together when Buzz returned and Jim Foley joined as the new baritone. They soon began their contest climb with 9th in 1960, 7th in 1961, 3rd in 1962, and 4th in 1963. In late 1963, Joe Sullivan had to leave the group and was replaced by Ben Williams as lead. They jumped up to second in 1964 and won it all in 1965. After that, they appeared on the Mike Douglas Show twice, went on a USO Tour with Bob Hope, and released three record albums. They retired in 1972 after 17 years of singing together. The Four Renegades came out of retirement for a short period of time in the late 80’s with Ray Henders singing tenor and Buzz Haeger singing bass. The championship version of the quartet reunited and sang for their 25th anniversary of winning the gold in 1990. Today Tom Felgen is the last living gold medal winning member. Joe Sullivan and Ray Henders also survive.