Richard Smallwood, gospel singer and musical inspiration, dead at 77

Richard Smallwood, the eight-time Grammy Award-nominated gospel singer and entertainer, has died. He was 77.

Smallwood died Tuesday from complications of kidney failure at a rehabilitation center in Sandy Spring, Maryland, his spokesman Bill Carpenter said.

Smallwood had had health problems for years and music gave him the strength to persevere, Carpenter said in an interview.

“Richard was so dedicated to music and that's what kept him alive all these years,” he said. “Creating music that made people feel something made him keep breathing, keep moving and keep living.”

Smallwood's songs have been performed and recorded over the years by artists such as Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder, Destiny's Child and Boyz II Men. Houston brought his music to film by performing I love the Lord in the 1996 film Preacher's Wifeaccording to Smallwood's biography at the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.

Smallwood “exposed me to the whole world of gospel music,” singer-songwriter Chaka Khan. wrote on Facebook after his death.

“His music didn't just inspire me, it changed me,” she said. “He is my favorite pianist, and his talent, spirit and dedication to music have shaped generations, including my own.”

Pioneer of music

Smallwood was born on November 30, 1948, in Atlanta and began playing the piano by ear at age five, according to biographical material provided by Carpenter. By age seven, he was taking formal lessons. By age 11, he had formed his own gospel group.

He was raised primarily in Washington, D.C. by his mother, Mabel, and stepfather, Reverend Chester Lee (CL) Smallwood. His stepfather was the pastor of Union Temple Baptist Church in Washington.

Smallwood was in many ways a music pioneer at Howard University in Washington, where he graduated magna cum laude with a degree in music. He was a member of Howard's first gospel group, the Celestials. He also was one of the founders of the university's gospel choir, according to Carpenter's obituary.

After college, Smallwood taught music at the University of Maryland and formed the Richard Smallwood Singers in 1977, bringing a modern sound to traditional gospel music. He later formed Vision, a large choir that became the basis for some of his biggest gospel hits, including General praise.

According to Carpenter, the song became a modern anthem that touched people from all walks of life and walks of life.

“You can go to any church—black church, white church, nondenominational church—and you can hear this song,” he said. “Somehow it found its way throughout Christendom. If he had never written anything else, this would place him in the modern hymnal.”

Stevie Wonder performed General praise at the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr.'s son, Dexter Scott King, at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on February 10, 2024.

In recent years, mild dementia and other health problems prevented Smallwood from recording music, and members of his Vision Choir helped care for him.

His legacy will live on “in every note and every soul he touched,” Khan said. “I'm really looking forward to singing with you in heaven.”