Rance Allen of Rance Allen Group gave many hits in the 70s like ‘Ain’t No Need of Crying’, ‘I Belong To You’ and many more. The Gospel star passed away recently at the age of 71 years. He had anticipated crossover gospel artists such as The Winans and Amy Grant. The man is no more.
A joint statement was released by the artist’s wife Ellen Allen and his manager, Toby Jackson. The statement stated that Allen was recovering from a medical procedure at Heartland ProMedica in Sylvania, Ohio and he passed on early Saturday, October 31st without recovering. He had stayed in Toledo, Ohio for long.
For the Michigan Northwestern Harvest Jurisdiction, he recently became the bishop for Church of God in Christ. Singer GLoria Gaynor wrote on Twitter that she is sorry to hear of the passing away of Gospel Great Bishop Rance Allen and he is sure to enrich the choir in heavens.
Allen, native of Monroe, Michigan, was a singer, songwriter and musician who formed the Rance Allen Group with his brothers Tom and Steve. The brothers were joined by Esau, their other sibling occasionally. They were signed with the label’s Gospel Truth imprint and featured in the 1973 documentary WattStax in which they performed the funky ‘Lying On the Truth.’
Allen had sung at the White House in 2015, with then President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama in attendance. The brothers became a part of the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1998. They inverted the formula of using gospel sounds for secular themes. The Allen Group reworked the Temptations melancholy love song ‘Just My Imagination’ into an uptempo hymn on ‘Just My Salvation’.