At five years old, he began directing the junior choir at St. Bethel Baptist Church. In 1981, he formed the first gospel choir at Bloom High School. “There were so many church kids there and they liked to sing,” he says. “So, I started a group called Ricky Dillard and Company and we sang at school. Dillard says God led him to found the New Generation Chorale in 1988. The next year they won the McDonald’s Chicagoland Choir competition. One day he met producer Butch McGee in a parking lot. McGee had heard of him and signed Dillard’s group on their reputation alone. New G’s first album The Promise was released in 1990 and won them a Grammy® nomination and a GMWA Excellence award in 1991. The next year the choir was featured in Steve Martin’s movie “Leap of Faith.” By the time their second live album A Holy Ghost Take Over debuted in 1993, Dillard was a consultant on Whoopie Goldberg’s “Sister Act II” movie and the choir had appeared on a PBS Television Special “Going Home To Gospel” featuring Patti La Belle and Albertina Walker.
With backing from Alliant Music Group and EMI Gospel, this company is ready to soar. The first project from the label is the new Ricky Dillard & New G project entitled The 7th Episode: “Live in Toronto”. This historical project will definitely delight the ears of many as it truly defines a new level of ministry for Ricky & his aggregation.
Bio Credit:www.yourmusiczone.com

The President Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama host a night of music that inspired and reflected the Civil Rights Movement. Performers include Yolanda Adams, Joan Baez, Natalie Cole, Bob Dylan, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, John Mellencamp, Smokey Robinson, Seal, the Blind Boys of Alabama, the Howard University Choir, and The Freedom Singers.

To see the full performance go to pbs.org

WASHINGTON (BP)–Five members of a Baptist volunteer team being detained in Haiti met with a judge in Port-au-Prince Feb. 2, according to the Voice of America and other news reports Feb. 3.

In all, 10 Baptist volunteers continue to be held by authorities in the capital city over allegations of illegally attempting to transport 33 children from the ravages of the Jan. 12 earthquake into the neighboring Dominican Republic.

Meanwhile, a Haitian pastor who assisted the team has told the Associated Press that the Baptist volunteers had permission from parents of children in the group who were not orphans to transport them into the Dominican Republic.

The pastor, Jean Sainvil, however, described the controversy as a misunderstanding stemming from the volunteers not having the needed paperwork for the children. Sainvil said the Baptist volunteers were acting “with a good heart.”

The five women on the team, members of Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian, Idaho, were questioned by the Haitian judge Feb. 2.

The five men on the team, members of other Baptist churches, in Idaho, Kansas and Texas, were to meet with the judge Wednesday, Feb. 3.

No additional details about the proceedings were being reported in the media as of mid-afternoon Feb. 3.