Raymond Howard "Ray" Boltz (born June 14, 1953) is a retired singer and songwriter who first came to wide notice in

contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christianity, Christi ...

. Many of his songs tell stories of faith and inspiration.

Background

Raised by his parents William and Ruth Boltz in Muncie, Indiana, Ray Boltz is the middle of his parents' three children (a fourth child died shortly after birth). Boltz was married to Carol (nee Brammer) Boltz for 33 years (1975-2008), and they have four children: Karen, Philip, Elizabeth and Sara. Boltz graduated from Ball State University with a degree in business and marketing. Boltz was virtually unknown when he wrote "Thank You", which won the Song of the Year prize at the 1990

GMA Dove Awards A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Award ...

. His song "I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb" also won a Dove Award for Inspirational Recorded Song of the Year, at the

25th GMA Dove Awards The 25th Annual GMA Dove Awards were held on April 28, 1994, recognizing accomplishments of musicians for the year 1993. The show was held at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee, and was hosted by Amy Grant. Award recipients Artists ...

in 1994. After the release of ''Songs from the Potter's Field'' in 2002, and his last tour in 2004, Boltz retired from the music industry. He separated from his wife in 2005 before moving to

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 Unit ...

, with their

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving th ...

being finalized in early 2008. On September 12, 2008, during an interview with the ''

Washington Blade The ''Washington Blade'' is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) newspaper in the Washington metropolitan area. The ''Blade'' is the oldest LGBT newspaper in the United States and third largest by circulation, behind the ''Philadelphi ...

'', Boltz

disclosed Disclosed (揭秘) is a Singaporean Chinese investigative thriller drama which started on 28 October 2013, focusing on cybercrime cases which involve Internet fraud, celebrity privacy, online money laundering and such. It stars Tender Huang , Jess ...

that he was

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

. Since then, Boltz has performed at several churches of the

Metropolitan Community Church The Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), also known as the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), is an international LGBT-affirming mainline Protestant Christian denomination. There are 222 member congregations in 37 ...

, a gay-affirming Christian denomination. In 2010, he released the album ''True'', which won Album of the Year at the OUTMusic Awards. Boltz currently lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with his husband Franco Sperduti, who is also his

talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or sp ...

Awards

Boltz has twice been a recipient at the Gospel Music Association's

Dove Awards A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Award ...

. "Thank You" received the 1990 Song of the Year award, and "I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb" received the 1994 award for Inspirational Song. He also was one of various artists contributing to ''God with Us: A Celebration of Christmas Carols & Classics'', which won the 1997 award for Special Event Album.

Discography

*1986 ''Watch the Lamb'' *1988 ''Thank You'' *1989 ''The Altar'' *1991 ''Another Child to Hold'' *1992 ''Seasons Change'' *1994 ''Allegiance'' *1995 ''The Concert of a Lifetime'' (live, RIAA Gold) *1996 ''No Greater Sacrifice'' *1997 ''A Christmas Album: Bethlehem Star'' *1998 ''Honor and Glory'' *2000 ''The Classics'' *2001 ''Concert of a Lifetime for Kids'' ive*2002 ''Songs from the Potter's Field'' *2004 ''The Unchanging Story'' *2010 ''True''

Compilation albums

*1994 ''Moments for the Heart'' (

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

Gold Certified) *2001 ''Moments for the Heart, Vol. 1 & 2'' *2010 ''All The Best''

Charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boltz, Ray 1953 births Living people American male singer-songwriters American performers of Christian music American gay musicians Christian music songwriters LGBT people from Indiana LGBT Protestants American LGBT singers American LGBT songwriters Gay songwriters People from Muncie, Indiana 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people Singer-songwriters from Indiana