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

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. 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 contemporary worship music, worship songs "Awesome God" and "Sometimes by Step". Some of his ...

A Ragamuffin Band A Ragamuffin Band was a musical group founded by Rich Mullins in 1993, when he gathered friends from other bands to back him on his '' A Liturgy, A Legacy, & A Ragamuffin Band'' album. The band continued to record and tour with Mullins, and even ...

, which recorded and toured from 1993 through 2000.

Biography

Elias was born in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, eventually attending

Azusa Pacific University Azusa Pacific University (APU) is a private evangelical research university in Azusa, California, United States. The university was founded in 1899 in Whittier, California, with classes first held on March 3, 1900, and degrees offered in 193 ...

outside

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. 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. He is also a business developer in the fields of virtual reality and Internet radio. In 1989, Bolas founded Fakespace Music with Mark Bolas, Ian McDowall, and Christian Greu ...

. 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 musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Tom Hanks, in his feature writing and directorial debut. Set in 1960s rock and roll culture, it chronicles the rise and fall of a fictional one-hit won ...

'', ''

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. It aired from January 20, 19 ...

'', ''

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. The film stars Vardalos, John Corbett, Lainie Kazan, Michael Constantine, Gia Carides, Louis Mandylor, Andrea Martin, and Joey Faton ...

'', 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 her music career in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the mid-1980s. Grant has been referred to as "Honorific ...

Aaron Neville Aaron Joseph Neville (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer renowned for his distinctively smooth, vibrato-heavy tenor and a genre-crossing career that spans R&B, soul, gospel, jazz, country, and pop. He gained national prominence with hi ...

Michael W. Smith Michael Whitaker Smith (born October 7, 1957) is an American musician who has charted in both contemporary Christian music, contemporary Christian and mainstream charts. His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when "Place in This Worl ...

, 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 a genre of music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christianity, Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence and lament, and its f ...

, as listed by ''

CCM Magazine ''CCM Magazine'' is an online magazine focusing on contemporary Christian music and media, published by Logan and Amanda Sekulow. History ''CCM'' was first published in July 1978, as a printed magazine. It has been owned by Salem since 1999. O ...

'' 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'' 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 * * Singers from Nashville, Tennessee Singers 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