Andrae Crouch

Andrae Crouch is without question one of the most vital and influential artists in contemporary music today. His artistry has touched, and changed, millions of lives around the world. An international music star of legendary stature, his songs transcend color, class and creed with a vibrant message of hope, faith and joyous celebration.

However, with his new album Pray, Andre testifies to the enduring power of faith through times of trial, tribulation, and life changing choices, creating songs that not only testify to a difficult and demanding chapter in Andrae's life, but to the triumphant and uplifting music that was born out of these often-painful passages.

“'I wanted this album to be a heartfelt message of affirmation to people who are going through tough situations," Andrae explains. "I want to let them know that there is help in time of trouble, and that a brighter day is coming. It's a message I can sing about straight from the heart because I've been in those dark times, and been faced with those difficult decisions, and seen how much good can come out of sorrow and hardship." For Andrae, those experiences include the death of his beloved parents and his brother, all within the space of two years. It was also a time when he was confronted with the most challenging choice of his life-to continue a full-time musical career or take up where his father had left off as pastor of the family church in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley.

Beginning his musical career in his father's church, Andrae began playing the piano and writing music at the age of nine with no formal musical training. By the early Sixties, he had formed his own group, "Andrae' Crouch and the Disciples," establishing a reputation for electrifying live performances that spanned the globe. Consistently selling out concerts throughout Europe, Africa, the Far East and the Americas, his music has been translated into twenty-one languages. With a truly international following, Andrae' gives new meaning to the term "world class artist."

The decision to answer the call to ministry was made all the more difficult in light of the extraordinary professional accomplishments Andrae had made in recent years. His 1994 Qwest Records release, Mercy, had landed the artist his seventh career Grammy, this time for Best Pop / Contemporary Gospel Album, attesting to his proven ability to reach audiences on both sides of the pop/gospel divide. Andrae's universal appeal was also the impetus for the Grammy-winning Tribute: The Songs Of Andrae Crouch, the 1996 album saluting his enduring musical contributions. The collection was performed by artists ranging from The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir to Take 6, and Michael W. Smith to The Winans. Small wonder Tribute was named Best Contemporary Gospel Album at the 1997 Grammy Awards.

Simply put, Andrae Crouch was at the pinnacle of an extraordinary career when he was faced with a choice that would change, once and for all, the direction of his life. The death of his mother, followed in quick succession by the passing of his father and brother, placed the future of the Christ Memorial Church, built by the Crouch family over forty years ago, squarely on Andrae's shoulders. "I thought that if I took up the mantle of pastor I wouldn't be able to make music my first priority," he reveals, "and at first I was filled with doubt about making such a choice. But God just pointed out to me that He had given me everything I had and that He wasn't about to take anything away. I slowly came to understand that He was adding to my life and ministry, and that music was as much a part of both as it had ever been."

While actively fulfilling the role of pastor, including everything from preaching to counseling to community outreach, Andrae found himself inspired to write some of his best, most direct and honest, new music. "I was really seeing God move in individual lives in the congregation," he recounts, "and at the same time He was moving in my life to meet these new responsibilities. I found myself getting up at 6AM every morning to pray for the day ahead and, more often than not, a song would come to me in those early hours. A lot of the material on this album was written that way."