GRAMMY® AWARD NOMINATED GOSPEL SINGER BISHOP RANCE ALLEN PASSES AWAY AT 71

Bishop Rance Allen, of the Grammy® Award nominated inspirational soul and gospel trio, The Rance Allen Group, has passed away at the age of 71. “While recovering from a medical procedure at Heartland ProMedica], Bishop Rance Allen passed away around 3 AM this morning,” said Allen’s wife of 49 years, Ellen Allen, and his manager, Toby Jackson, in a joint statement. 
 
The Rance Allen Group’s progressive brand of Gospel and Allen’s signature grunts and squalls have inspired a generation of gospel artists ranging from Kirk Franklin and Fred Hammond to John P. Kee and Bryan Andrew Wilson. In the 1970s, they pioneered a fusion of R&B rhythms with spiritually charged message music on hits like “Ain’t No Need of Crying,” “I Belong to You” and their cover of The Temptation’s “Just My Imagination” as “Just My Salvation.” The retro-soul vibe carried over into the group’s hits of the last two decades such as “You That I Trust,” “Miracle Worker,” and “Something About the Name Jesus,” which has clocked over 175 million streams. He will be missed in the world of gospel music.