Andrae Crouch

Andraé Crouch ranks among the foremost trailblazers of contemporary gospel music, having earned broad esteem for his innovations. He merged longstanding gospel ingredients such as call-and-response patterns and choral textures with songwriting approaches and studio techniques drawn from pop, thereby shaping the work of many later performers. Born July 1, 1942, in San Francisco, California, Crouch first explored music inside his father’s church in the Los Angeles vicinity, where he sang, played piano, and created original material before age ten despite lacking formal training. In the early 1960s he launched his initial professional gospel ensemble, Andraé Crouch & the Disciples; the collective’s opening release, This Is Another Day, surfaced only in 1977, after which the group name gradually disappeared from credits, leaving subsequent albums listed solely under Crouch.

His visibility rose swiftly as he continued to deliver recordings that included the 1978 self-titled set, Don’t Give Up in 1981, Live at Carnegie Hall in 1982, Pray in 1997, and Gift of Christmas in 1998, while also composing the modern gospel standards “My Tribute (To God Be the Glory)” and “The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power.” International travel carried him through Europe, Africa, the Far East, and the United States; he joined forces with such noted pop figures as Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, and Madonna; secured nine Grammy Awards plus an Academy Award nomination; and supplied material for film soundtracks including The Lion King and Free Willy.

Crouch entered the Gospel Hall of Fame in 1998. Shortly afterward came the tribute collection Tribute: The Songs of Andraé Crouch, whose energetic covers featured the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, Take 6, and the Winans, capped by a seventy-voice all-star finale of “My Tribute (To God Be the Glory)” that united Patti Austin, BeBe Winans, Susan Ashton, and Vestal Goodman. Between numerous guest appearances and an intensive touring pace, he issued Mighty Wind in 2005 on the fortieth anniversary of his recording debut, followed by The Journey in 2011 and Live in Los Angeles two years later. He died of a heart attack in early 2015 at the age of seventy-two.