Ricky Dillard

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Since the age of three, Dillard watched church choirs. His Grandma used to stand Little Ricky on top of his baby potty and he would direct and sing. At five years old, he began directing the junior choir at St. Bethel Baptist Church. In 1981 he formed the first gospel choir at Bloom High School. “There were so many church kids there and they liked to sing,” he says. “So, I started a group called Ricky Dillard and Company and we sang at school. One of my teachers, Don Bondurant, said, `you should start a gospel choir’ and I did.” In spite of his love for performing, Dillard thought his future lay in radio announcing. He attended Columbia College for a couple of years, but dropped it because “The curriculum bored me and I was really tired of school anyway.” He took a job as a front desk clerk at a Holiday Inn and later worked as a file clerk while performing in a professional back-up group called Love, Salvation & Devotion (LSD) on the weekends.

In 1984, Dillard joined the late Milton Brunson’s Thompson Community Singers. At the same time, he started hanging out with renowned club DJ Frankie Knuckles and began recording dance and hip-hop records. Aside from a half dozen-guest appearances on various dance tracks, Dillard recorded his own album “Let The Music Use You” which was released in Europe and was imported into the United States.