Andraé Crouch

Birth Year: 1942
Death Year: 2015

Andraé Edward Crouch was born on July 1, 1942, in San Francisco, California, and raised in Los Angeles. He was the son of Benjamin and Catherine Crouch, both bivocational pastors. He displayed musical ability from a young age, beginning to play for a local church at age 11. Crouch wrote his first gospel song at 14 and formed his first band, the COGICS, in 1960.

In 1965, he formed The Disciples, which remained active until 1979. Mentored by leaders of Contemporary Christian Music such as Audrey Mieir and Ralph Carmichael, he gained recognition as a composer, arranger, and performer. He wrote "The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power" at age 15, and many of his later compositions became widely used in congregational worship. Over his career, he won nine Grammy Awards and numerous other honors.

After the deaths of his parents in 1993–94, Crouch and his twin sister Sandra Crouch assumed the pastorate of New Christ Memorial Church of God in Christ in Pacoima, California.

Crouch was hospitalized in December 2014 for pneumonia and congestive heart failure, and again in January 2015 following a heart attack. He died on January 8, 2015, at age 72.