By Chinello Chikelu
For many millennials and Gen Z Christians, Ron Kenoly and Don Moen were the go-to gospel ministers in the early 1990s to mid-2000s.
On Sundays, pre- and post-morning services or Holy Mass, you’d hear signature songs like ‘Lift Him Up’, ‘Let Everything That Has Breath’, ‘Righteousness, Peace and Joy’, ‘We Are Going Up to the High Places’, blasting on the stereo and from TV screens in homes.
And those are songs from just one of Kenoly’s albums, Lift Him Up, released in 1992.
Kenoly meant so many things to many Christians in Nigeria. While his concert music style is different from the typical hymns, chants, and choral music of the Catholic Church, he made non-denominational Christian worship possible. His songs permeated Catholic and Pentecostal homes.
In an era when gospel music was largely traditional-based, rendered in local languages and often featuring lyrical retelling of Biblical events like Princess Njideka Okeke’s ‘Aka Nchawa 2 – Ihe Eji Amara Dike Erue’, or petitions for God’s blessings in Reverend Fr Mbaka’s ‘Chidera’ and ‘Gozie Mu’, Kenoly’s music provided the missing factor in the Nigerian gospel music culture, which is praise, worship and adoration of God, not for what he can do for, or to ask for his blessings, but for who he is.
He was particularly a bridge for younger, urban-raised Christians who were yet to appreciate the finer points of traditional gospel music rendered in local languages, because they could understand his songs, and relate to the uplifting atmosphere created by the diverse, modern musical instruments deployed in his songs that complement the human voices of both the choir, orchestra, and the lead worshipper.
Kenoly influenced the praise, worship, and adoration in contemporary Nigerian music, appealing to the African music ‘call and response style’ which still exists today. His music comprises the lead worshipper, the choir, and the orchestra. Songs often follow a verse-chorus structure, with the chorus repeated several times, making it easy for listeners to join in.
Read Also: Legendary gospel singer Ron Kenoly dies at 81
There are songs for every occasion, worship, praise, adoration, and supplication, and they aid listeners into a state of prayer, worship, even joyful and heartbreaking tears when considering the Lord’s goodness in their lives.
One can still enter and in God’s presence with the songs ‘Majesty’, ‘We Shall Behold Him’, ‘I Bow My Knees’ from his 1998 album Majesty, or roar and dance with joys from tracks as ‘Sing Out’, ‘The Lord Be Magnified which featured an African choir’, ‘Joyfully Joyfully’ from 1995 album Sing Out with One Voice, among others.
The 1990s and early 2000s saw his multiple visits to Nigeria, ministering musically at the Experience concerts in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Jos, Plateau State, in 2016. And he has influenced gospel artistes like Sinach, Dustin Oyekan, Nathaniel Bassey, among others, whose music enunciates the cultivation of a deeper connection with God – via praise, worship, and adoration.
He’s also had an impact on Nigerians of the Catholic faith and the classical music profession.
Chorister Emmanuel Atoku, who grew up with Kenoly’s songs used as song-and-dance choreography in children’s ministry, said the singer-songwriter’s passion, expression, and deep connection with God in worship helped him develop a genuine devotion to Christian worship when he eventually joined the choir at age 14.
And while Kenoly’s style differed from the Classical root of Catholic Choir Music, “he inspired my dynamic musical identity, allowing me to embrace both classical and contemporary worship. He was truly a role model, and his music formed part of my love for choir and Christian music as a whole.”
Sam Ezeugwu, the musical director of the Abuja Metropolitan Music Society (AMEMUSO), said he crossed paths with the gospel music minister as a child, and he would go on to influence his music.
“Kenoly was a part of my childhood musically. Personally, His music crossed paths with mine, influencing my approach to choral arrangements. I have had the privilege of working across diverse genres. Ron Kenoly’s contributions to Gospel music are a testament to the power of music in worship ministry. His impact on Nigerian gospel is undeniable. His legacy will live through the countless lives he has touched,” said Ezeugwu.
Born December 6, 1944, Ron Kenoly was an American Christian worship leader and singer-songwriter. His musical career began after his military service with the US Air Force from 1965 to 1968, during which he sang with the army band The Mellow Fellows.
After some years in the secular music scene, he transitioned to gospel music, where he found his musical break with the album ‘Lift Him Up’, which sold over 500,000 copies and became a major hit among Christian albums in Nigeria and across Africa. His albums Sing Out with One Voice (1995), Majesty (1998), and High Places: The Best of Ron Kenoly were also huge successes.
Kenoly was married to Tavita Kenoly in the 1960s. Their 42-year-old marriage was blessed with three sons, Samuel, Tony, and Ronald Kenoly, who are also singers, until she died in the early 2000s. He died at the age of 81 in February 2026 and is survived by his three sons, his second wife, and a UN Ambassador-at-Large, Diana Kenoly.
