Jimmy Ray Dowell

Jimmy Ray Dowell (b 4 Apr. 1946, Muskegon, MI | d 11 Dec. 2004, Detroit, MI), son of Percy Dowell and Essolina West, took piano lessons from age 6, and started directing choirs at Bethesda Baptist Church, Muskegon, MI, at age 14. He studied music at Interlochen and the University of Michigan, not completing a degree, before becoming music director of the Muskegon Community Choir (1967), New Hope and Zion Westside Baptist Churches, Muskegon, and the Jimmy Dowell Singers, then minister of music at St. James Missionary Baptist Church, Detroit (1976), where he recorded albums with Rev. Charles H. Nicks, Andre Woods, and others, earning GMWA Choir of the Year awards in 1982 and 1983. His most famous song, “I Really Love the Lord,” was named Song of the Year at the Gospel Music Excellence Awards (1981). He was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame (2003).

—Chris Fenner, Hymns & Devotions for Daily Worship: African American Edition (2025)