Gospel Talent Has Brought Him Glory

Although the Rev. Andrae Crouch was not nominated for a Grammy this year, the Pacoima-bred gospel artist and pastor of Christ Memorial Church came up a winner anyway.

In February, “Tribute--The Songs of Andrae Crouch,” an album recorded by a collection of artists, took the Grammy for best pop/contemporary gospel album at the awards ceremony in New York.

The winner of seven Grammys during his career, Crouch, 54, a lifelong Valley resident, has been one of the most influential--and successful--gospel artists of his generation. A singer, composer and musician, he began performing at age 11, playing piano at Christ Memorial, the Pentecostal church founded in 1951 by his father, Bishop Benjamin Crouch.

As leader of the group Disciples, Crouch first received acclaim as a gospel artist in the 1960s. His numerous albums over the past three decades have garnered both critical and commercial success.

Crouch has worked with Michael Jackson and Madonna, among others, as a vocal arranger, and his songs have appeared on albums by pop stars such as Elvis Presley and Paul Simon.

Crouch was also nominated for an Academy Award for his musical contributions to Steven Spielberg’s “The Color Purple.”

Crouch was appointed pastor of Christ Memorial in 1995, shortly after his brother, Benjamin Jr., died from cancer. The congregation has grown and Crouch has helped implement a drug-recovery program and an outreach ministry for gang members.

“What’s amazing is that when you pray, it’s the closest thing to receiving song,” Crouch said shortly after joining the ministry. “Every single morning, I have a person sitting right there next to me in prayer with a tape recorder--and a song comes up every day.”