Leon Norman Patillo (born January 1, 1947) is an American

contemporary Christian Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

singer, keyboardist, and evangelist.

Career

Patillo's first musical endeavor was with the group Creation, later called Leon's Creation. Formed in the late 1960s, Creation was a

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

group similar in style and composition to

Sly & the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-i ...

; they were signed to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

. Aside from Creation, Patillo worked at times with

Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, pioneered the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, Bush. Funkadeli ...

and

Martha & the Vandellas Martha and the Vandellas (known from 1967 to 1972 as Martha Reeves & The Vandellas) were an American vocal girl group formed in Detroit in 1957. The group achieved fame in the 1960s with Motown. An act founded by friends Annette Beard, Rosalind ...

. In 1974, Patillo joined

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...

, in time to record the album ''

Borboletta ''Borboletta'' is the sixth studio album by the American Latin rock band Santana. It is one of their jazz-funk-fusion oriented albums, along with '' Caravanserai'' (1972), and ''Welcome'' (1973). Non-band albums by Carlos Santana in this style a ...

''. He left in 1975, but returned in late 1976 and recorded the ''

Festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

'' album. Afterwards, he launched a solo career on

Word Records Word Records is a Christian faith-based entertainment company based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by Curb Records, and is a part of Word Entertainment. It is distributed by Warner Records (the former Warner Bros. Records). History In 1 ...

. He released a string of successful albums on the CCM market in the 1980s, and had his own television show on TBN called ''Leon and Friends''.

Leon Patillo Leon Norman Patillo (born January 1, 1947) is an American Contemporary Christian music, contemporary Christian singer, keyboardist, and evangelist. Career Patillo's first musical endeavor was with the group Creation, later called Leon's Creatio ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Patillo founded his own

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

, Positive Pop, in the 1990s, and his most recent releases have been on this imprint. For years, Patillo pastored the Rock House Church on the historic Queen Mary in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. He retired from the ministry in late 2009 in favor of traveling and leading seminars across the country.

Discography

*''This Is the Beginning'' by Leon's Creation, Studio 10 Records (1969) *''Creation'' by Creation (Funk R&B group) ATCO Records (1974) *''Dance Children Dance'' (1979) *''Don't Give In'' (1981) *''I'll Never Stop Lovin' You'' (1982) *''Live Experience'' (1983) U.S. Top Contemporary Christian albums No. 10

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Allmusic.com, ''passim''. *''The Sky's the Limit'' (1984) U.S. Christian No. 5 *''Love Around the World'' (1985) U.S. Christian No. 7 *''A Funny Thing Happened'' (1986) *''Brand New'' (1987) U.S. Christian No. 8 *''On the Way Up'' (1989) *''Christmas with Leon'' (1992) *''Hands of Praise'' (1992) *''Church Is on the Move'' (1993) *''Souly for Him'' (1994) *''The Classics'' (1996) *''I Can'' (1999) *''Breathe on Me'' (2005) *''Live Experience 2'' (2005)

References

External links

* http://leonpatillo.org * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Patillo, Leon American performers of Christian music American male singers 1947 births Living people Myrrh Records artists Singers from San Francisco Santana (band) members