Gospel Music Legend Andrae Crouch Dies at 72 After Suffering Heart Attack
Legendary gospel music singer, songwriter and choir director Andrae Crouch who had been ailing for some time, died Thursday after reportedly suffering a heart attack. He was 72.
Crouch, who also served as pastor of the New Christ Memorial Church in Los Angeles, California, along with his sister, Sandra Crouch, died at Northridge Hospital Medical Center where he had been admitted since Saturday, according to his publicist, Brian Mayes, in an Associated Press report.
The prolific songwriter whose career spanned more than 50 years after writing his first song at 14, won seven Grammys from The Recording Academy. In a statement Thursday, the academy remembered him as "a remarkable musician and legendary figure" who was "fiercely devoted to evolving the sound of contemporary, urban gospel music."
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Sometimes called "the father of modern gospel music," according to the USA Today, Crouch directed choirs that sang Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror," Madonna's "Like a Prayer" and others. He also wrote several popular gospel songs including, "The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power," "My Tribute (To God Be the Glory)" and "Soon and Very Soon."
Despite his lifelong struggle with dyslexia, Crouch managed to find success in his career and told the AP in a 2011 interview that he made drawings that allowed him to grasp the concept of whatever he created. For the Michael Jackson song, he explained that he drew a man with a mirror in it.
"I memorized everything through sight, the shape of the word," he said. "Some things that I write, you'll see a page with cartoon pictures or a drawing of a car — like a Ford — or a flag. I still do it on an occasion when a word is strange to me."
"So when I finish a song, I thank God for bringing me through," he added. "You have to press on and know your calling. That's what I've been doing for all my life. I just went forward."
