By Sydney Kerbow | Reporter & Mackenzie Grizzard | Staff Writer
A new book co-authored by two Baylor professors is shedding light on the life and legacy of one of gospel music’s greatest pioneers. “Soon and Very Soon: The Transformative Music and Ministry of Andraé Crouch,” written by Robert Darden and Stephen Newby, offers the first comprehensive biography of the seven-time Grammy winner who reshaped gospel and contemporary worship music.
“I hate to think of this as a rediscovery, but it’s a reintroduction,” Darden said. “Everybody who has seen it or heard it, for a lot of them — it brings back extraordinary memories of what it was like when they were first a Christian.”
Released at the end of March, the book is a major contribution to gospel music scholarship, based on over 150 interviews with Crouch’s collaborators, friends and family members. The project blends musical analysis with personal stories, tracing how Crouch’s groundbreaking songs, like “Through It All,” “The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power” and “Soon and Very Soon,” became foundational in modern worship across denominations.
Darden, Emeritus Professor of Journalism and founder of the Black Gospel Music Preservation Project at Baylor, was inspired to start the book after hearing Newby speak about Crouch at a 2015 Baylor symposium.
“Andrae’s passing earlier that year was weighing heavily on my heart, and when I discovered that there had been no serious scholarship on the artist who is the ‘father of contemporary gospel music and praise and worship music,’ I approached Stephen about collaborating,” Darden said in an email.
Newby, who serves as Baylor’s Ambassador for Black Gospel Music Preservation, emphasized Crouch’s enduring relevance.
“Andrae Crouch is undeniably one of the most significant figures in gospel music and contemporary Christian worship,” Newby said in an email. “His influence not only reshaped the gospel genre but also impacted the global church’s understanding of worship. We felt his story was crucial to tell at this moment in time.”
This partnership with Darden proved to be incredibly influential, Newby said, especially in the hundreds of interviews they held when gathering information for their book.
“It was a good partnership working in scholarship,” Newby said. “We both love this music, but as a black man that’s a scholar and a white man that’s a scholar, you don’t see that type of co-authorships.”
Crouch’s influence reached beyond church walls. His group, The Disciples, was one of the first racially integrated gospel ensembles. He addressed pressing social issues like AIDS, addiction and racial injustice through both music and ministry. His collaborations with major pop stars like Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones helped bring gospel music into the mainstream.
“It was something about Andrae’s multicultural, intergenerational lens on his artistry that brought a lot of people who would normally not come together into the Kingdom of God through the way he was doing music,” Newby said.
Darden believes many Baylor students are already familiar with Crouch’s work even if they don’t realize it.
“The fascinating thing is that most Baylor students, at least those who attend church in one of the major Protestant denominations or Protestant-affiliated Bible churches, are already singing many of Andrae’s songs,” Darden said in an email. “They just don’t know his name.”
As worship music continues to evolve, Newby hopes readers walk away with a deeper appreciation for Crouch’s spiritual and musical legacy.
“[Crouch’s] music was always about more than just entertainment, it was about ministry.” Newby said in an email. “It was about Jesus Christ and populating heaven and de-populating hell.”
