Grammy-nominated Gospel Singer Troy Sneed Dies of Coronavirus
According to his publicist, Sneed passed away early on Monday at a hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, following complications stemming from coronavirus.
Sneed gained notoriety after a Grammy nomination for musicianship on Youth For Christ’s 1999 record “Higher.” Earlier in his career, the singer traveled extensively with the Georgia Mass Choir, arranging music for the group and even appeared with the group in a feature movie called “The Preacher’s Wife,” starring Whitney Houston and Denzel Washington.
As a solo artist, Sneed released seven albums and boasted several hit gospel songs including“Work It Out” and “My Heart Says Yes.”
“Troy was like a brother to me,” said Mike Chandler, chief executive officer of Rejoice! Musical Soul Food radio network, in a statement, according to Actions News Jax. “He was a businessman. He was a husband; he was a father. He was an industry leader so it’s not just my loss it’s a loss to the whole industry.”
“He was one of the most talented men in our industry but more importantly Troy was a good person and he did a lot of good work,” Chandler added. “The world is going to miss him.”
Do keep the Sneed family in your prayers at this time.
‘A phantom plague’: Evangelical fundamentalists who openly defied social distancing guidelines are dying of coronavirus in frightening numbers
Countless non-fundamentalist churches in the United States, from Catholic to Lutheran and Episcopalian, have embraced social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic and temporarily moved their activities online. But many Christian fundamentalists and evangelicals have been irresponsibly downplaying the dangers of COVID-19 and doing so with deadly results: journalist Alex Woodward, in the U.K.-based Independent, reports that the pandemic has claimed the lives of more than 30 pastors in the Bible Belt.
“Dozens of pastors across the Bible Belt have succumbed to coronavirus after churches and televangelists played down the pandemic and actively encouraged churchgoers to flout self-distancing guidelines,” Woodward reports. “As many as 30 church leaders from the nation’s largest African-American Pentecostal denomination have now been confirmed to have died in the outbreak, as members defied public health warnings to avoid large gatherings to prevent transmitting the virus.”
“The virus has had a wildly disproportionate impact among black congregations, many of which have relied on group worship,” Woodward explains. “Yet despite the climbing death toll, many US church leaders throughout the Bible Belt have not only continued to hold services, but have urged worshippers to continue paying tithes — including recent stimulus checks — to support their mission.”
Woodward points out that according to a recent poll by Religion News Service, 90% of congregations have suspended their in-person gatherings. But Woodward also notes that the survey “found that evangelicals were more likely to report worshipping in person.”
One of the far-right evangelical extremists who has encouraged worshippers to defy social distancing is Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne, a Pentecostal fundamentalist in Florida. Howard-Browne has irresponsibly described coronavirus as a “phantom plague” and was arrested for his blatant defiance of social distancing rules.
