Ricky Rydell Dillard (born February 25, 1965) is an American

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...

ian. He started his music career, in 1987, as a

Chicago house Chicago house refers to house music produced during the mid to late 1980s within Chicago. The term is generally used to refer to the first ever house music productions, which were by Chicago-based artists in the 1980s. History and origins Disco ...

musician. His first Christian music album was ''Promise'', by Muscle Shoals Records. His next album, ''A Holy Ghost Take-Over'', was released in 1993 by

Malaco Records Malaco Records is an American independent record label based in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, that has been the home of various major blues and gospel acts, such as Johnnie Taylor, Bobby Bland, Mel Waiters, Z. Z. Hill, Denise LaSalle, La ...

. The subsequent album, ''Hallelujah'', was released by them in 1995. Crystal Spring Records released, 1996's ''Work It Out'', 2000's ''No Limit'', and ''Unplugged'' in 2004. With

EMI Gospel Capitol Christian Music Group (Capitol CMG) (formerly known as EMI Christian Music Group) is an American music group that, since 2013, is under the ownership of Universal Music Group. It is based in Brentwood, Tennessee. Capitol CMG is in the Ch ...

, he released, ''7th Episode'', that came out in 2007. He released, ''Keep Living'', with

Light Records Light Records is a gospel record label founded in 1966 by Ralph Carmichael, as a joint venture with the Waco, Texas-based Word Records. It is a subsidiary of the MNRK Music Group. History Light Records' first roster included Ralph Carmichael, ...

in 2011. His next release, ''Amazing'', came out in 2014 with

Entertainment One Music MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch", formerly known as Koch Records and eOne Music) is a New York City-based independent record label and music management company. It was formed in 2009 from the music assets of Koch Entertainment, which had b ...

. All of his Christian albums charted on the ''Billboard'' Gospel Albums chart. His ''No Limit'' album charted on the

Christian Albums Top Christian Albums is a weekly chart published in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the best-performing Christian albums in the United States. Like the ''Billboard'' 200, the data is compiled by Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly ...

chart, and the album ''Unplugged'' charted on the

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' maga ...

chart along with the releases ''Keep Living'', and ''Amazing'' that also charted on The ''Billboard'' 200. He was nominated at the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

s twice, the first time in the Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album category at the

34th Annual Grammy Awards The 34th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1992, recognizing accomplishments by musicians from the previous year (1991). Natalie Cole won the most awards (three), including Album of the Year. Paul Simon opened the show. Performers ...

for ''Promise'', and the second time would come at the

57th Annual Grammy Awards The 57th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 8, 2015, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The show was broadcast live by CBS at 5:00 p.m. PST ( UTC−8). Rapper LL Cool J hosted the show for the fourth consecutive time ...

in the category

Best Gospel Album The Grammy Award for Best Gospel Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the Gospel music genre. Honors in s ...

for ''Amazing''.

Early life

Dillard was born on February 25, 1965, in

Chicago Heights, Illinois Chicago Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 27,480 at the 2020 census. In earlier years, Chicago Heights was nicknamed "The Crossroads of the Nation". Currently, it is nicknamed "The Heights". Geograp ...

, as Ricky Rydell Dillard. His mother and grandmother imparted to him a love of

, and he was raised in the church singing in the choir at the age of five years, and eventually got the opportunity to direct the youth choir at St. Bethel Baptist Church. In 1981, he formed the first gospel choir at Bloom High School.Artist profile
on ''New Releases Today''. Around that time, while working as a front desk clerk and later as a file clerk, he performed in a professional

Backup band A backup band or backing band is a musical ensemble that typically accompanies a single artist who is the featured performer. The situation may be a live performance or in a recording session, and the group may or may not have its own name, such a ...

called ''Love, Salvation & Devotion (LSD)'' on the weekends. In 1984, he joined the late

Milton Brunson Milton R. Brunson (June 28, 1929 – April 1, 1997) was an American gospel musician and former pastor and music director of Christ Tabernacle Baptist Church in Chicago, Illinois. Brunson released his first musical project in 1988, ''Available to ...

's Thompson Community Singers. Also in 1984, he graduated from

Bloom Township High School Bloom High School is a public school in Chicago Heights, Illinois. It is part of Bloom Township High School District 206. The school was founded in 1900. A second Chicago Heights high school, Bloom Trail, was established in 1976 to offset overc ...

Music career

Dillard started his recording career in 1987 in

music, to which he was introduced by the "Godfather of House", DJ Frankie Knuckles, a few years ago. In this genre, he collaborated with notable record producers such as

Farley "Jackmaster" Funk Farley "Jackmaster" Funk (born Farley Keith Williams; January 25, 1962) is an American musician, DJ and record producer of Chicago house and acid house music. He is notable for writing and producing a number of highly influential tracks in the ...

on ''It's You'' (D.J. International Records, 1987) and ''As Always'' (

Trax Records Trax Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It played a major part in the development of house music. History Larry Sherman was originally a collector of vintage jukeboxes, and, frustrated ...

, 1988).Discography of Ricky Dillard
on

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

. He also worked with

deep house Deep house is a subgenre of house music that originated in the 1980s, initially fusing elements of Chicago house with the lush chords of 1980s jazz-funk and touches of soul music. Its origins are attributed to the early recordings of Larry Heard ( ...

pioneer

Larry Heard Larry Heard (born May 31, 1960) is an American DJ, record producer, and musician who has recorded under various names, most notably Mr. Fingers. He is widely known as a pioneering figure in 1980s house music, and was leader of the influential gro ...

, who was the main producer of Dillard's first album, ''Let The Music Use You'', which was released on Jack Trax in 1989. With his gospel choir ''Ricky Dillard's New Generation Chorale'', founded in 1988, Dillard released his first gospel album, ''Promise'', on November 28, 1990, on Muscle Shoals Records. It charted on the ''Billboard'' Gospel Albums chart at No. 15, and was being nominated at the

in the Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album category. His second album, ''A Holy Ghost Take-Over'', was released by

on May 20, 1993. It charted on the Gospel Albums chart at No. 3. The next album, ''Hallelujah'' with Malaco Records, released on May 2, 1995, and it charted at No. 10 on the Gospel Album chart. On October 15, 1996, he released ''Worked It Out'' with Crystal Springs Records, and again this would chart on the Top Gospel Albums at No. 8. His next album with them, ''No Limit'', came out on July 18, 2000, and this charted on two ''Billboard'' chart the Gospel Albums at No. 10 and

at No. 32. While his last release, ''Unplugged'', on the label was released on March 16, 2004, which this charted on the Gospel Albums at No. 9, and this time around charted on the

at No. 49. The next album, ''7th Episode'', came out on October 2, 2007 with

, and this charted at No. 7 on the Gospel Albums chart.

released ''Keep Living'' on April 26, 2011, which this charted on the Gospel Albums at No. 3, Independent Albums at No. 9, and on The ''Billboard'' 200 at No. 58. He partnered with

to release, ''Amazing'', on June 10, 2014, and this album charted on The ''Billboard'' 200 at No. 28, No. 5 on the Independent Albums, while placing at the top of the Gospel Albums chart. On August 13, 2019, he signed a record deal with Motown Gospel. As an agreement, Dr. Dillard and his choir, New G, did their 11th live recording. On September 28, 2019, he recorded his 11th album, Choirmaster. Choirmaster was released on May 1, 2020. Choirmaster was nominated for two awards at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. Dillard also won Traditional Choir of The Year at the 36th Annual

Stellar Awards A Stellar Award is an award presented by SAGMA to recognize achievements in the Gospel music, gospel music industry.Sagma< ...

. On July 9, 2021, Dillard recorded his second album with Motown Gospel, 13th of all albums, and 12th gospel album. On September 9, Dillard released his first single from the upcoming album titled "All of My Help". The song played at the top of every hour on all

iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming Computing platform, platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbr ...

gospel stations. On September 17, Dillard released the single on all music streaming platforms. A second single was released, entitled "Behold Christ the Lord", on October 29, 2021 on every music streaming platform. Since then he has released three more singles, "Breakthrough", "He Won't Fail" and "Making Room" on December 2, December 9, and January 6, respectively. On January 21, 2022, Dillard released his album, "Breakthrough: The Exodus". He later appeared on

The Kelly Clarkson Show ''The Kelly Clarkson Show'' is an American daytime television variety talk show hosted by American singer Kelly Clarkson. It is produced and distributed by NBCUniversal Syndication Studios and features Clarkson interviewing celebrities and segm ...

singing "All of My Help" on February 22.

Success

Since his first gospel album ''Promise'' in 1991, all of his albums charted on the ''Billboard'' Gospel Albums chart. His ''No Limit'' album charted on the

chart, and the album ''Unplugged'' charted on the

chart along with the releases ''Keep Living'', and ''Amazing'' that also charted on The ''Billboard'' 200. Ricky Dillard was nominated at the

s twice, the first time in the Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album category at the

in 1992 for ''Promise'', and the second time at the

in 2015 in the category

for ''Amazing''. Also in 2015, he was nominated at the 30th Stellar Awards in the following categories: Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, CD of the Year, Choir of the Year, Producer of the Year, Traditional Male Vocalist of the Year, Traditional CD of the Year, and Traditional Choir of the Year. In 2021, at the 36th Annual Stellar Awards, Dr. Dillard earned Traditional Choir of the Year the day before his 12th live recording. In 2022, he received the James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award, Choir of the Year, Traditional Choir of the Year, and Traditional Male Vocalist of the Year at the 37th Annual Stellar Awards.

Discography

References

External links

Discography of Ricky Dillard
on

Artist profile
on ''New Release Today''
Article on Ricky Dillard & New G Cross (2007)
by

Tony Cummings Tony Cummings is the founding editor of the magazine '' Cross Rhythms''. Biography Cummings' journalistic career started in 1963. He started a black music fanzine originally called ''Soul'', then ''Soul Music Monthly'', and finally ''Shout'' ...

on ''

Cross Rhythms Cross Rhythms is a Christian media organisation based in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It operates an FM and online radio station, produces radio shows sent internationally, and its website has resources about contemporary Christian music. Hi ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Dillard, Ricky 1965 births Living people African-American songwriters African-American Christians Musicians from Chicago Songwriters from Illinois MNRK Music Group artists 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people