Richard Smallwood, a gospel singer and recording artist nominated eight occasions for Grammy Awards, has died. He was 77. Smallwood’s songs had been carried out and recorded through the years by artists akin to Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder, Destiny’s Child and Boyz II Men.
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Richard Smallwood’s Cause Of Death Revealed
Richard Smallwood died Tuesday (Dec. 30) of issues of kidney failure at a rehabilitation and nursing middle in Sandy Spring, Maryland, his consultant Bill Carpenter introduced. Smallwood had well being points for a few years, and music gave him the energy to endure, Carpenter stated in an interview.
“Richard was so devoted to music, and that was the factor that stored him alive all these years,” he stated. “Making music that made individuals really feel one thing is what made him wish to hold respiratory and hold transferring and hold residing.”
In latest years, gentle dementia and different well being points prevented Smallwood from recording music, and members of his Vision choir helped look after him.
A Gospel Legend Gone But Not Forgotten
As talked about, Whitney Houston introduced his music to movie by performing ‘I Love the Lord’ within the 1996 film ‘The Preacher’s Wife,’ in keeping with Smallwood’s biography on the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
Richard Smallwood was born Nov. 30, 1948, in Atlanta and started to play piano by ear by the age of 5, per Associated Press. By age 7, he was taking formal classes. He had shaped his personal gospel group by the point he was 11.
Later, Smallwood grew to become a music pioneer in a number of methods at Howard University in Washington, the place he graduated cum laude with a music diploma. He was a member of Howard’s first gospel group, the Celestials. He was additionally a founding member of the college’s gospel choir, in keeping with an obituary from his rep Carpenter.
After faculty, Smallwood taught music on the University of Maryland and went on to type the Richard Smallwood Singers in 1977. He introduced a up to date sound to conventional gospel music.
He later shaped Vision, a big choir that fueled a few of his largest gospel hits, together with ‘Total Praise.’ The track grew to become a modern-day hymn that touched individuals from all sorts of backgrounds and walks of life, Carpenter stated by telephone Wednesday.
“You can go into any form of church — a Black church, a white church, a nondenominational church — and also you may hear that track,” he stated. “Somehow it discovered its footing all through the entire Christian world. If he by no means wrote anything, that will have put him within the trendy hymn ebook.”
Stevie Wonder carried out ‘Total Praise’ on the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr.’s son Dexter Scott King at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on Feb. 10, 2024.
Chaka Khan Reacts To Richard’s Death
Richard Smallwood “opened up my complete world of gospel music,” singer and songwriter Chaka Khan wrote on Facebook after his demise.
“His music didn’t simply encourage me, it reworked me,” she stated. “He is my favourite pianist, and his brilliance, spirit, and devotion to the music have formed generations, together with my very own journey.”
His legacy will reside on “via each observe and each soul he touched,” Khan stated. “I’m actually wanting ahead to singing with you in heaven,” she stated.
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Associated Press Jeff Martin contributed to this report by way of AP Newsroom.
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