Andraé Crouch wrote “Soon and Very Soon” and “My Tribute”. His choir also sang for Madonna and Michael Jackson

If your church choir has ever sung “To God be the glory for the things He has done”, it was singing Andraé Crouch.

Andraé Crouch was born in Los Angeles in 1942 and grew up in the Church of God in Christ, where his father was a pastor. He began playing piano in church as a boy and wrote songs as a teenager. One of his earliest, “The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power”, became a standard in Black churches.

The Disciples

In the 1960s he formed Andraé Crouch and the Disciples, a group that mixed gospel with soul, pop and rock. They reached young audiences, including the Jesus Movement of the late 1960s and 1970s, and performed for white and Black congregations alike, which was unusual at the time.

The songs

Crouch’s songs moved into hymnals and choir repertoires around the world. “My Tribute (To God Be the Glory)” is a declaration of gratitude. “Through It All” tells of learning to trust God in hard times. “Soon and Very Soon” looks forward to heaven: “soon and very soon, we are going to see the King.” “Bless His Holy Name” sets Psalm 103 to music.

In Ghana and Nigeria, his songs are sung in churches of every denomination, often without the congregation knowing who wrote them.

Pop collaborations

Crouch’s choir arrangements were in demand in pop music. His choir sang on Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” and on Madonna’s “Like a Prayer”. He also worked on film and television, including vocal arrangements for The Lion King.

Some church members criticised him for working with pop stars. Crouch saw it as taking gospel sounds where they had never been.

Pastor

After his father’s death, Crouch and his twin sister, Sandra, took on the leadership of the family church, New Christ Memorial Church of God in Christ in Pacoima, California.

Honours

Crouch won several Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Many later gospel artists, including Kirk Franklin, have named him as an influence. He died in January 2015.

His legacy

Crouch’s songs are easy to sing and hard to forget. They sound modern while staying rooted in church.

“Soon and Very Soon” is now sung at funerals across the world, from Los Angeles to Kumasi. He wrote it for everyone who would one day have to say goodbye.