Song:Come On Lift Him Up
Album:Reflections
This 1998 CD Reflections poised O'Landa Draper as the next contemporary gospel star. But he died suddenly of renal failure at age 34. He grew up in the gospel music business in Memphis as his mom was a singer and promoter. He started writing songs as a teen and formed his first choir while attending Memphis State University. O'Landa Draper & The Associates grew to a 60 voice choir and Draper started his ministry in Memphis. He got the attention of Word Records when the choir backed up Shirley Caesar at a live recording and he signed with Word in 1990. This was at a time when Word had a distribution deal with Epic Records so Draper's music was better distributed than most gospel records. Draper moved to Warner Alliance in 1996. This was a new gospel label from Warner Bros. Reflections was his second CD for Warner Alliance and like a lot of gospel choir recordings, it was recorded live in concert. Try to fit a 60 voice choir in a recording studio. Reflections topped the gospel charts and won a 1998 Best Gospel Album Grammy. Draper was in Nashville to perform on Bobby Jones Gospel when he was admitted to Nashville General Hospital with kidney failure. He died July 21, 1998 at age 34. He was to be married in September. The choir has continued as O'Landa Draper's Associates. But Draper was a great songwriter and arranger so it's not the same. O'Landa Draper certainly would have been a big star in gospel if he had lived. Here's O'Landa Draper & The Associates performing I've Got A Reason from the 1998 Reflections DVD.
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