Tributes Pour in for Gospel Legend Ron Kenoly Following His Passing at 81
The realm Christian neighborhood has been hit with files of the passing of a legendary figure in gospel music. Dr Ron Kenoly, the “Professor of Reward” whose ministry outlined an era of like, handed away on Tuesday, third February 2026, on the age of 81.
His longtime music director, Bruno Miranda, shared the tips in a assertion, confirming that the like chief handed away peacefully on Tuesday morning. In a shifting tribute, Miranda mirrored on Kenoly’s unwavering dedication to his calling:
This morning, Feb. 3, 2026, we said goodbye to Dr Ron Kenoly… Doc used to be very intentional about one component: he used to be by no system an artist, by no system an entertainer. He used to be a like chief.
At present time we grieve deeply but no longer with out hope. The like he lived is now the like he beholds.
For millennials, it is practically very no longer more likely to judge attend to childhood with out Ron Kenoly’s instruct within the background. While you happen to grew up in a Nigerian home within the 90s or early 2000s, you likely spent your Sunday mornings or college runs being attentive to his albums. He introduced a shiny, expansive-band vitality to gospel music that remodeled church products and companies across the country. Hits like “Frail of Days,” “Rob Him Up,” “Jesus Is Alive,” and the deeply spiritual “Anointing Descend On Me” grew to alter into the gold traditional for like.
The records has ended in an outpouring of respect from leaders within the Nigerian gospel scene. Nathaniel Bassey paid homage to the one who ready the bottom, writing: “Dr Ron Kenoly crosses to yonder side. Thank you for animated generations of psalmists like me. I grew up on these songs. And this day, others are rising up on ours. Thank you, sir.”
Dunsin Oyekan also shared a tribute to the gradual icon: “Honouring a Total! Leisure in Peace Dr Ron Kenoly. An discontinuance of an era… You would possibly want to per chance perchance be now singing Perpetually in His Presence.”
Ron’s excellence used to be widely recognised. He used to be a recipient of the GMA Dove Award for Reward and Adore Album of the twelve months in 1997 for Welcome Dwelling, which also topped the Billboard contemporary like charts.
Dr Kenoly is survived by his wife, Diana (who also serves as a UN Ambassador), and his three sons: Samuel, Ronald Jr., and Tony, known to many followers as the Kenoly Brothers, as effectively as a lot of grandchildren.
