Raymond Anthony Myles

Comparable to Al Green, Raymond Anthony Myles was an R&B-influenced gospel singer who came out of the rich New Orleans music scene. Myles probably would have done well as a secular R&B artist if he had chosen to go that route, but, instead, he stuck to Christian music. The singer was only 12 when, in 1969, he recorded his single, "Prayer From a 12-Year-Old Boy," which called for an end to the Vietnam War and came at a time when the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy were fresh in people's minds. As an adult, Myles formed the Raymond Anthony Myles Singers (RAMS) and became a fixture in the Southern gospel circuit, where he sang with such favorites as Shirley Caesar, Andrew Crouch, the Mighty Clouds of Joy, the Winans, and Rev. Al Green. Myles' first album as a leader, New Orleans Gospel Genius, came out in 1988, and the '90s found him recording for NYNO, a label that was co-founded by the famous New Orleans producer/songwriter Allen Toussaint. Myles' life was cut tragically short on October 11, 1998, when he was murdered by a carjacker at the age of 41. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide