Richard Robert Elias (January 7, 1955 – April 2, 2019) was an American singer and songwriter based in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

. Elias is best known for being a founding member of

Rich Mullins Richard Wayne Mullins (October 21, 1955 – September 19, 1997) was an American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter best known for his worship songs "Awesome God" and "Sometimes by Step". Some of his albums were listed by ''CCM ...

' A Ragamuffin Band, which recorded and toured from 1993 through 2000.

Biography

Elias was born in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, eventually attending

Azusa Pacific University Azusa Pacific University (APU) is a private, evangelical Christian university in Azusa, California. The university was founded in 1899, with classes opening on March 3, 1900, in Whittier, California, and began offering degrees in 1939. The uni ...

outside

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

. In 1984, Elias moved to work full-time in L.A. and within a few years would be recording with producer,

Niko Bolas Niko Bolas is an American music producer, sound engineer, and consultant and business developer in the fields of virtual reality and Internet radio. In 1989, Bolas founded Fakespace Music with Mark Bolas, Ian McDowall and Christian Greuel, which, ...

. Later Elias wrote and produced music in Nashville, Tennessee, while performing solo throughout the U.S. and internationally. His music was included in the 1996 movie ''

That Thing You Do! ''That Thing You Do!'' is a 1996 American comedy film co-starring, written, and directed by Tom Hanks, in his feature writing and directorial debut. It tells the story of the rise and fall of a fictional 1960s one-hit wonder pop band, and star ...

'', ''

Dawsons Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. ...

'', ''

My Big Fat Greek Wedding ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' is a 2002 romantic comedy film directed by Joel Zwick and written by Nia Vardalos, who also stars in the film as Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos, a middle class Greek American woman who falls in love with White Anglo-Sa ...

'', as well as other albums, independent films, and TV shows. During his career, Elias produced for artists such as

Amy Grant Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...

Aaron Neville Aaron Joseph Neville (born January 24, 1941) is a retired American R&B and soul singer. He has had four platinum albums and four Top 10 hits in the United States, including three that reached number one on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. ...

Michael W. Smith Michael Whitaker Smith (born October 7, 1957) is an American musician who has charted in both contemporary Christian and mainstream charts. His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when " Place in This World" hit No. 6 on the '' ...

, and

Randy Stonehill Randall Evan Stonehill (born March 12, 1952) is an American singer and songwriter from Stockton, California, best known as one of the pioneers of contemporary Christian music. His music is primarily folk rock in the style of James Taylor, but ...

. He released four solo projects. His work was nominated and awarded by the GMA, UCMVA, and the Nashville Music Awards. His first solo record, ''Rick Elias & The Confessions'', was voted No. 58 in the top 100 greatest albums in

Christian music Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely aro ...

, as listed by ''

CCM Magazine ''CCM Magazine'' is a twice-monthly online magazine focusing on contemporary Christian music, published by Salem Publishing, a division of Salem Communications. History ''CCM'' was first published in July 1978, as a printed magazine. It has be ...

'' in 2001. In 2018 it was revealed that he had cancer. A benefit concert was held by members of A Ragamuffin Band and performers from ''

The Jesus Record The Jesus Record is the ninth and final album by American singer and songwriter Rich Mullins, released posthumously on July 21, 1998, ten months after his death. The first disc of the album, entitled "The Jesus Demos", consists of nine rough de ...

'' on February 2, 2019 to raise money for his medical bills. Elias died on April 2, 2019 from brain cancer.

Discography

* ''Rick Elias & The Confessions'' (1990, Alarma) * ''Ten Stories'' (1991, Frontline) * ''Blink'' (1998, Pamplin) * ''Confessions of a Ragamuffin'' (2000, KMG) (compilation album) * ''Bootleg'' (2003) (compilation album) *''Bootleg 2: The Legend of Sonny Jim'' (2009) (compilation album) * ''Job'' (2013)

References

External links

*
Rick Elias on CD Baby -
https://store.cdbaby.com/Artist/RickElias * * Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee Musicians from San Diego Singer-songwriters from Tennessee Azusa Pacific University alumni A Ragamuffin Band members 1955 births 2019 deaths Deaths from brain cancer in the United States Singer-songwriters from California {{US-singer-songwriter-stub