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Religion
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Published: March 20, 1999 RON KENOLY
The third of six sons, Ron was born December 6, 1944 in Coffeyville, Kansas where he knew both joy and heartache. "My mother put happiness and love into our household," he says of his now 77-year old mother, Edith, who worked as a housemaid. 'We were poor, but she made us so happy that we didn't realize we were poor." Ron's paternal influence was not as strong. "My father was in the military and gone all of the time," he says. After high school, Ron ventured to Hollywood. Faced with poor job prospects, he joined the Air Force in 1965. While in the military, Ron met and married his wife, Tavita. During this time he also joined the Mellow Fellows, a Top 40 cover band which toured military installations. "I can remember in our neighborhood there was one family that owned a TV," Ron recalls. "On Saturday nights they would turn it around and put it in the front window, facing the street, so everybody else could watch. I remember seeing Sammy Davis Jr. and Nat King Cole for the first time, and I was profoundly impressed that here were two black men on a national stage - highly respected and highly talented. I knew right then that was what I wanted." In 1968 Ron left the Air Force and resettled in Los Angeles where he planned to seek his fortune in the music business. Over the next few years, Ron launched his recording career by singing demos of Jimmy Webb ("MacArthur Park") songs for the Audio Arts label. He also released his first single, "The Glory of Your Love (Mine Eyes Have Seen)," for the company. This opportunity led to recording deals with MCA, United Artists and Warner Brothers. However, it was at A&M Records that Ron had his greatest secular success. Label execs changed his name to Ron Keith because they "Thought an Italian last name would confuse the R&B marketplace," Ron laughs. Simply entitled Ron Keith & the Ladies, the A&M album featured the R&B hit "I Betcha I'll Get Ya" and "Soul Vaccination" which was later covered by Tower of Power. As his career took shape, Ron's family life suffered. He worshiped his career and neglected his wife and kids. His marriage became abusive - emotionally and physically. They separated and were nearing a divorce. "My wife rededicated her life to the Lord in 1975 and began praying for the healing of our family," Ron recalls. "I began to realize the goodness of God because I could see the changes He was making in her life and I could see that while I never lost respect for God, I had never had a strong spiritual life. That's when the lights began to come on for me.' Ron remained in R&B music another year to fulfill contractual commitments. When he left L.A., he relocated to Oakland, CA. There he took the humbling job of passing out towels at the Alameda College locker room while taking night courses. "I just surrendered my life to the Lord, allowing Him to do some character building in me, says Ron. "I had to learn to be a husband and a father, and I had to learn how to relate to God as a father." Ron taught music and physical education at Alameda College from 1978 to 1982. Still, the fire to sing burned within him. Ron tried four years to get a gospel record deal to no avail. "It was a real low point," he recalls. "But as much as I loved music, I loved God more. I couldn't go back to secular music even if it meant never singing again." One summer evening, Ron sat alone in church for hours, playing, singing, praying, worshipping and laying his burdens before the Lord. "From that night on, the record companies ceased to matter. The Lord had met me and shown me so much that I felt I had gone beyond what any company could offer me. Acceptance and rejection didn't matter anymore because all I knew was that I had been with God." Ron left the church that night with nothing but a desire to worship and praise God, and to lead others in doing the same. Ron produced a custom-made album entitled, You Ought To Listen To This, in 1983 and sold it whereever he sang. Soon, word of Ron's musical talents began to spread around the Oakland area, and he found himself invited to lead praise and worship at numerous churches. "I didn't even think of myself as a praise and worship leader," Ron says. "All I knew was I would go and sing my songs and something special would happen." Leading worship for high-profile pastors like Lester Sumerall and Jack Hayford brought Ron to the attention of evangelist Mario Murillo who commissioned Ron to lead worship at his crusades. Through Murillo, Ron met Pastor Dick Bernal, who founded the Jubilee Christian Center, a congregation in San Jose, CA. Ron became the church's music minister in 1987 and was content to stay there without the thought of ever recording again. But, in 1990 Don Moen, then the creative director for Integrity Music, heard about Ron's ministry and approached him about the possibility of recording one of his praise services. Ron's first album Jesus Is Alive was released in 1992 and became a surprise hit. What followed was Lift Him Up which has since sold a half million copies and won an Angel Award in 1993. The worship hits kept coming. The God Is Able set broke records for praise music and Billboard magazine voted Sing Out with One Voice the # 1 independent Christian music album of 1995. The next year's Welcome Home album earned Ron his first Dove Award. Last year's set High Places: The Best of Ron Kenoly features Ron's best-known praise songs such as "Let Everything That Has Breath," "I See The Lord" and "Use Me." In between all of his record-breaking sales in the praise market and nightly touring schedule, Kenoly managed to find some time last year to complete his doctorate in sacred music from the Friends International Christian University in Merced, CA. "I'm still trying to figure out what all of this means," Ron muses. "I want to be a good steward of what God has given me, not just in terms of music, but in life experience and valuable lessons I can pass on to other people. He's holding me responsible for the visibility and the influence that He's allowed me to have. And, make no mistake; it has been Him who has allowed it. I've never had a manager, a promoter, a booking agent. It's all just been the Sovereign work of God. This is God's music and God's agenda. My main concern is just to always do with it what He wants me to do."
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In
seven years, Ron Kenoly has risen from an obscure Sunday morning congregational
hymn leader into the most popular praise and worship leader in the country.
More three million records later, Ron Kenoly has distinguished himself
as an unashamed cheerleader for Jesus Christ. His uplifting paeans such
as "Lift Him Up," "Let Everything That Has Breath Praise The Lord" and
"Use Me" (which he co-wrote) are regular fare at Charismatic churches
from coast to coast. Moreover, Ron has carved a niche for himself as a
black man in a predominantly white field. Ron's diverse audience of white,
black and brown continues to expand. He packs in upwards of 10,000
adults, toddlers and grannies in civic arenas around the globe 250 nights
a year. Considering his exceptional achievements, Ron's beginnings were
humble.
