Ricky Dillard grew up in Chicago as a chart-topping gospel singer, songwriter, producer, and Grammy nominee. His path began in the city’s 1980s house music community, where he collaborated with Frankie Knuckles before shifting focus to directing church choirs, a role he has maintained ever since. Blending R&B, funk, dance music, blues, jazz, and Black Gospel into a layered approach, he established a distinctive presence through his New Generation Chorale, later shortened to NG. From the 1991 release The Promise onward, intricate stylistic combinations and striking vocal and percussive structures amplified his already powerful singing. Every project placed in the upper reaches of the U.S. Gospel charts, while live performances routinely sold out, frequently months ahead of dates. Releases such as 1993’s A Holy Ghost Take-Over on Malaco carried his message across northern urban stations and congregations before it gained traction in the Deep South through church and festival appearances. In the 21st century his stature continued to rise: 2014’s Amazing on eOne and 2017’s 10 both reached the top of the gospel rankings and entered the Billboard Top 200.
Born and raised in Chicago, Dillard absorbed gospel early through his mother and grandmother and joined a church choir as a child. By age five he was leading the youth choir at his church, later taking charge of the young adult ensembles. Two recordings proved decisive: James Cleveland and Aretha Franklin’s “Amazing Grace” with the Southern California Community Choir and a project by the Institutional Radio Choir of Brooklyn. Additional influences soon followed from Dr. Charles G. Hayes, Marvin Yancy, Thomas Whitfield, Bishop Albert Jamison, and the Tribal Mass Choir. He kept directing local groups and sang with the Thompson Community Singers.
Although his deepest commitment remained gospel, Dillard launched his recording career in secular music. Drawn to complex rhythmic patterns, he immersed himself in Chicago house during the mid-1980s, meeting Frankie Knuckles and working with Farley “Jackmaster” Funk on the 1987 single “It’s You” and the 1988 track “As Always.” He also partnered with Larry Heard, who produced his first secular album, Let the Music Use You, issued by Jack Trax in 1989. Dillard viewed the studio techniques and breakbeat methods he encountered as tools he could adapt for contemporary gospel expression.
In the early 1990s he began releasing solo projects backed by New Generation, later called New G, that fused gospel with dance elements. These included the 1991 Grammy-nominated Promise, 1993’s A Holy Ghost Take-Over, 1995’s Hallelujah, and 1996’s Worked It Out. Starting with 2000’s No Limit, his albums consistently reached the Top Ten on Billboard’s gospel chart; 2011’s Keep Living climbed to number three, while the Grammy-nominated Amazing from 2014 entered the Top 200. In 2017 Ricky Dillard & New G issued 10, their second straight gospel number-one album. Two years afterward he joined Motown Gospel. The May 2020 label debut Choirmaster, created with multiple co-producers, reached number two on the gospel chart. That July he issued the surprise digital set Choirmaster: The Chicago House Remixes, a five-track, eighteen-minute collection made with singer-producer Max Stark that appealed to both gospel listeners and international DJs.
