Since the age of three, Dillard watched church choirs.
His Grandma used to stand Little Ricky on top of his baby potty and he
would direct and sing. 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. One of my teachers, Don
Bondurant, said, `you should start a gospel choir' and I did." In spite
of his love for performing, Dillard thought his future lay in radio
announcing. He attended Columbia College for a couple of years, but
dropped it because "The curriculum bored me and I was really tired of
school anyway." He took a job as a front desk clerk at a Holiday Inn and
later worked as a file clerk while performing in a professional back-up
group called Love, Salvation & Devotion (LSD) on the weekends.
In 1984, Dillard joined the late Milton Brunson's Thompson Community
Singers. At the same time, he started hanging out with renowned club DJ
Frankie Knuckles and began recording dance and hip-hop records. Aside
from a half dozen-guest appearances on various dance tracks, Dillard
recorded his own album "Let The Music Use You" which was released in
Europe and was imported into the United States. In spite of his growing
success in the club market, Dillard says, "My heart was in the gospel. I
always wanted to do gospel. The other stuff was just an opportunity to
record. I wanted to bring a more contemporary style into gospel for
choirs." It's those contemporary innovations in gospel that have caught
Kirk Franklin and the Winans explaining their motivations to the more
sanctified members of the church at times. "I don't criticize because I
believe all music was created to praise God and all we're doing is
taking back what the devil stole from us and using it to please God."
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. In 1994 New G won their
first Stellar Award for contemporary choir of the year and recorded all
the background vocals for Gospel Queen Albertina Walker's Stellar Award
winning album "He Keeps On Blessing Me." "It was a delight to work with
the Queen," Dillard laughs just thinking of the experience. "She keeps
me laughing." In 1995 New G's third album "Hallelujah" was released and
the choir had its first club hit. They collaborated with Frankie
Knuckles and Adeva on "Walkin'" from their "Welcome to the Real World'"
album. The Virgin Records single became a Top 20 hit on Billboard
magazine's club chart.
By 1996 New G had moved to Detroit-based Crystal Rose Records. Their
debut "Worked It Out" sold 30,000 pre-orders out of the box. New G had
their biggest promotional push yet. The album premiered at Dillard's
alma mater before 1,500 screaming students. They capped the push off
with a listening party/concert at the Cubby Bear nightclub and a Record
Town appearance that rang up almost $10,000 in one day sales. The album
quickly jumped to the Billboard gospel top ten and stayed on the chart
for months. Then, in 2000 the group leaped back on the charts with the
scorcher "No Limit" CD. The single "The Holy Place," a classic choir
vocal with a subtle hip-hop rhythm, buoyed the sales. Beginning back in
1997, the group made their first tour of Europe where they were
particularly successful in Germany. "I was surprised that we were so
embraced," Dillard says. "But years before I told the choir that we were
going to be international and God made that happen for us." Aside from
international acclaim, the group has opened for Patti LaBelle and Bonnie
Raitt among others. In 2004, the group released top seller,
"Unplugged...The Way Church Used To Be", an album that revisited
traditional church choir anthems and incorporated the "Ricky Dillard
Sound".
Now in a new stage in his life, Ricky decided to take more control of
career. In 2006, he parted ways with Crystal Rose Records and started
his own label, Animated Entertainment Inc. 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.
