(RNS) — Richard Smallwood, a singer and pianist best known for his contemporary gospel music hit “Total Praise,” died Tuesday (Dec. 30).
Smallwood was 77. He died of complications of kidney failure at a rehabilitation and nursing center in Sandy Spring, Maryland, his publicist announced.
Nominated eight times for a Grammy Award, the Stellar and Dove awardee was known for combining Black gospel and classical genres of music.
His ubiquitous song “Total Praise,” introduced with his group Vision in 1996, was later covered in the group Destiny’s Child’s a capella “Gospel Medley,” performed by a cantor at New York’s Carnegie Hall and sung by a choir when President Barack Obama welcomed Pope Francis to the White House.
“When you write a particular piece, you have no idea what’s going to become of it — will people like it, or will people sing it?” he told Religion News Service in a 2024 interview when he was honored at the Kennedy Center. “And so, to see the years of people embracing it really means a lot to me as a composer. It means a lot that something I wrote can make a difference in people’s lives.”
His “I Love the Lord” was featured in a re …