Legendary Send-Off for Andrae Crouch at Memorial Service

Gospel legend Andrae Crouch's life was celebrated over two days. Thousands from all over the world paid their respects on January 20 and 21st at West Angeles Church of God In Christ, Los Angeles. Music legends gave a historic send-off to the man who revolutionized Gospel music and referred to as "the father of modern gospel music" by contemporary Christian and Gospel music professionals.

The celebrations included appearances and performances by Stevie Wonder, Tyler Perry, Yolanda Adams, Kirk Franklin, Shirley Caesar, Donnie McClurkin, BeBe & CeCe Winans, Edwin Hawkins, Fred Hammond, Erica Campbell, Dr. Bobby Jones, Kurt Carr, Donald Lawrence, Karen Clark-Sheard, Hezekiah Walker, Kim Burrell, Byron Cage, Smokey Norful, Richard Smallwood, Israel Houghton, Tommy Sims, and many more. Bishop Kenneth Ulmer officiated the funeral and Pastor Marvin Winans gave the eulogy, as well as performed. A message from Barack Obama was included in the program.

BET Network streamed both services 'live' and video tributes were shown by Bishop T.D. Jakes, Kenneth Copeland and Michael W. Smith.

Andraé’s accolades include 7 Grammy Awards, 6 Dove Awards, an Academy Award nomination for "The Color Purple," induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His songs have been recorded by everyone from Elvis Presley to Paul Simon, and he worked as a producer and arranger with many of music’s top artists, including Michael Jackson, Madonna, Quincy Jones, Diana Ross, Elton John and many others. Andraé can also be heard on Michael Jackson's hit singles "Man in the Mirror," "Keep the Faith,” "Will You Be There" and “Earth Song.”

Winter Jam Tour Again #1 Among All Tours

The Winter Jam Tour Spectacular has shattered its own record to become the #1 tour in the world (first quarter) for the second consecutive year. According to Pollstar's 2012 Worldwide First Quarter Ticket Sales Charts - Top 100 Tours, Winter Jam outpaced attendance for all other tours, including Cirque du Soleil - "Michael Jackson: The Immortal," Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, The Black Keys, Jason Aldean and Brad Paisley, among others.

Founded and hosted by NewSong and this year headlined by Grammy®-nominated Skillet, the 47-city tour ended April 1 and saw 32 sold-out concerts and surpassed last year's record attendance by more than 10,000, playing to a total of nearly 535,000 people.

"Being the headliner on Winter Jam was an incredible opportunity for Skillet," said the band's frontman, John Cooper. "The fans, the music, and the message were absolutely relevant and impacted people's lives each and every night. The worst part of Winter Jam was having to end the tour and go back to 'normal' life!"

In addition to headliners Skillet, this year's tour also featured Sanctus Real, former Newsboys frontman Peter Furler, Kari Jobe, Building 429, Group 1 Crew, illusionist Brock Gill, and speaker Nick Hall. In addition, the OneVerse Pre-Jam Party included performances from Dara Maclean, For King & Country and We As Human.

Following its January 6 launch in Charleston, West Virginia, The Winter Jam 2012 Tour Spectacular played to capacity audiences in some of the country’s top venues, including Atlanta’s Philips Arena; The Wolstein Center in Cleveland; Oklahoma City’s Chesapeake Energy Arena; the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee; and the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina, where more than 20,000 were in attendance.

Since its formation by NewSong in 1995, Winter Jam has featured many of the top names in Christian music, including TobyMac, Jeremy Camp, Steven Curtis Chapman, Third Day, Newsboys, Tenth Avenue North and Fireflight, among others. The tour has also been instrumental in helping launch the careers of such acclaimed artists as Francesca Battistelli, Chris August and Sidewalk Prophets.

For further information, visit www.jamtour.com