Richard Smallwood, 77, Whose 'Total Praise' Became a Global Anthem, Dies
Richard Smallwood, composer of the global anthem 'Total Praise,' has died at 77. From a segregated choir room to royal weddings, his melodies became the soundtrack of faith for millions.
The Quiet Giant Who Gave the World Its Holiest Chorus
Richard Smallwood slipped away on Monday evening, three weeks shy of his 78th birthday, in the same Washington, D.C. row house where he wrote the chord progressions that would one day echo through the U.S. Capitol, royal weddings and countless hospital wards during the height of the pandemic.
From Segregated Choir Rooms to the World Stage
Born in 1946, the grandson of a Virginia sharecropper, Smallwood began sneaking into the sanctuary of Union Temple Baptist Church at age five, climbing onto the piano bench after funerals to replay the hymns by ear. By 13 he was directing the youth choir; by 25 he had turned the Howard University Chapel into a laboratory of sound, fusing Handel with the blues riffs he picked up on U Street.
“He didn’t just write songs—he wrote survival manuals in 6/8 time,” says Rev. Shirley Caesar, who first invited Smallwood to open for her in 1975. “When you couldn’t find words to pray, his melodies prayed for you.”
The Night ‘Total Praise’ Was Born Out of Grief
In 1995, Smallwood’s mother, Mabel, succumbed to cancer. He sequestered himself in his childhood bedroom, penning what he thought would be a private lament. The next Sunday, Richard Smallwood Singers gathered around a single microphone at Faith Central in Baltimore and recorded a demo. Within 48 hours the cassette was bootlegged across the Eastern Seaboard; within six months it was being sung in 27 languages. Today the sheet music sells 5,000 copies a month—more than any other sacred choral work written in the last half-century.
A Legacy That Refused Charts and Walls
Smallwood never signed a mainstream record deal, yet Billboard ranks him among the 20 most-streamed gospel artists of all time. His 1987 album Testimony spent 87 weeks atop the gospel charts, a record that still stands. More remarkably, he donated every royalty from Healing: Live in Detroit to HIV/AIDS hospices—$3.7 million to date.
- 1996: Composes “Total Praise” in under 45 minutes; it becomes the most-sung contemporary hymn in North America.
- 2004: Performs at the funeral of Ronald Reagan at the family’s request.
- 2012: Inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame alongside Mahalia Jackson.
- 2020: “Total Praise” trends on TikTok after nurses in Italy sing it from balconies during lockdown.
Final Bow
Funeral arrangements will be handled by Howard University, where Smallwood taught for three decades. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the D.C. Youth Choir, ensuring that the next kid who can’t afford piano lessons still finds a bench to sit on.