About Percy Bady...
Percy Bady is both a family man and a gifted, Spirit-inspired
Gospel songwriter / producer /performer who has had a huge impact
on influencing the "modern Gospel music." In addition to his music
ministry for Jesus, Percy Bady also is a loving husband to his
wife, Teresa and an involved father with their three children.
Percy Bady was born and raised in Chicago with his sister, Florida,
and his brothers, George, Robert and Ray, in a strong, God-centered,
churchgoing Christian family. Their preacher father, Pastor O.D.
Bady, and their Sunday School teacher mother, Martha Carol Bady,
gave all their children great exposure and training in the Christian
faith and life, and provided wonderful role models in their own
behavior, being servants to the Lord in their own lives.
A mainstay in their growing up years was traditional Gospel
music, an influence which was both heard and encouraged in their
home and fostered / developed in their church. As a child Percy
heard many Gospel quartets and Choral arrangements sung by church
choirs / soloists, etc. As in many churches, music was used to
promote the Gospel, offer courage, inspiration, worship opportunities,
and comfort to others and train the young in the fine traditions
of Gospel music, offering opportunities to sing, perform in the
church music programs, learning to serve the Lord through music.
Young Percy's musical gifts surfaced early at the age of 3 when
he started to pick out simple songs and chords on the piano. Percy
was active in his church's children and youth music programs.
His first church performance was at the tender age of 9, in front
of a supportive congregation. In his youth and teenage years,
Percy's tremendous hunger for music became very important to young
Percy, who entirely self-taught himself how to play keyboards,
a skill instrumental in his upcoming music ministry that the Lord
was slowly but surely leading him, preparing him for.
Percy's fascination and love of music led him frequently at the
age of 12 to the nearby Chicago public library, which had a wide
variety of secular music not heard in his home; R & B, blues,
soul, jazz, funk, and pop, which melded into his musical mindset,
and Gospel music background. As Percy had a driving interest with
"how you put it all together," in the production of music, Quincy
Jones had a lasting and molding influence on Percy's music.
Percy's youth and high school years were important building blocks
in his musical development. At Chicago High School, well known
for its music program, Percy learned a lot about choral music
through the mentorship of "an instructor who gave him his first
real grasp of choral music," knowledge which would influence his
future musical career and ministry for Jesus Christ.
While Percy briefly took a job in the secular world, the Lord
made it plain to him that he was being called into a music ministry
for the Lord. After studying music at Roosevelt University in
Chicago, Percy began his music ministry by simply performing as
a guest musician at a friend's church. Gospel legend, Reverend
Milton Brunson, who was the pastor of Chicago's Christ Tabernacle
Church, was in the congregation during this particular service.
Being impressed with Percy's talent and faith, Reverend Milton
invited Percy to be the piano player for his own church choir,
the Thompson Community Singers, known as the "Tommies," and described
as "one of the definitive choirs in the history and development
of Gospel choral music."
This God-given opportunity led to not only to playing accompaniment
of a fine Gospel choir, but also to composing and producing music,
inspired by his own faith in Jesus and empowered by the Lord.
Percy soon became their head keyboardist, a high profile position,
and was given the opportunity to write much of the choir's choral
music as well for the next 15 years and produced a number of their
albums deemed to be classics. With his Spirit-inspired musical
compositions, Percy gave the choir a contemporary sound to their
gospel repertoire "with such innovations as a modern band and
horn section," which inturn influenced and melded into the whole
Gospel genre.
During this time, as his reputation grew, Percy found himself
also composing, playing, and producing music "God gave him"
for a growing number of both Christian and secular artists to
the point that Percy started his own production company. Producing
classic albums for such powerhouse Gospel artists as Donnie McClurkin,
Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams, and Fred Hammond. Learning from each
group and project he was involved with, both musically and spiritually, Percy continued to evolve as a musician
and producer. By the time Percy left the Tommies in the mid- '90's,
Percy had become "a highly sought-after player, writer, music
director and producer, very happy and contented with fulfilling
his music ministry for the Lord by being the "hand that shaped
the hits."
All these years, Percy used his musical gifts for the glory
of the Lord, through creating / playing / producing music for
other Christians and secular artists as well. Little did he know
what challenge the Lord had planned for him next. After making
a production deal with "modern Gospel pacesetter," GOSPO Centric
Records, Percy worked closely, and got to know this label's executives,
who "gently but persistently" encouraged and proded him to produce
his own solo album. Though resistant to the idea at first, Percy
eventually agreed to do so, because of the persistence of these
determined executives, and because of the popular demand of his
own fans, which surprised Percy.
So Percy went to work, with the help of some of his friends in
Gospel music and came up with 10 of his songs that other people
have told him meant a lot to them spiritually and would like Percy
to sing / perform keyboards / produce himself, though Percy also
has other Gospel artists joining him in singing the songs, on
his debut CD album of songs, THE PERCY BADY EXPERIENCE. Among
his many friends, Percy enlisted the vocal contributions from
among his many talented friends, including BeBe Winans, Dorinda
Clark-Cole, Ted Winn, Papa San, Ray Bady, Dawkins & Dawkins, DJ
Rogers, New Direction, The Soul Seekers Darius Brooks, Leanne
Faine (The Tommies), PAJAM (remix), Yvette Williams (Mrs. Tonex),
and Big Jim Wright.
All were eager to help bring these wonderful spiritual songs
to life, Gospel style, which so wonderfully express Percy's personal
faith and love in our Lord Jesus, in a variety of tempos and various
styles of Gospel music. All aspects of the human experience; laughter,
joy, positive living, pain, tears, trials, losses, and faith struggles
are put in perspective from a Christian faith point of view, recognizing
that the spiritual anchor, source of support, and grand encourager
and lover of our souls is our merciful Lord Jesus.
