Famed NY Gospel Singer Timothy Wright Dies at 61

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The Rev. Timothy Wright, the Grammy-nominated gospel music singer known to some as the "Godfather of Gospel," died Thursday at the age of 61.

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  (Photo: AP /Mark Q. Murray, File)

  This undated file photo provided by Mark Q. Murray shows Gospel singer Timothy Wright. Wright, the Grammy-nominated gospel singer and composer known for his up-tempo praise songs and powerful mass choir sound, has died. He was 61. Spokesman Will Bogle says Wright died early Thursday at the Bronx Veterans Hospital. He had been seriously injured in a July car crash in Pennsylvania that killed his wife, Betty, and their teenage grandson. The wrong-way driver that hit them also died.

The beloved Brooklyn pastor had been critically injured last July in a three-vehicle crash that killed his wife and teenaged grandson.

According to music agent Will Bogle, Wright died at the Bronx Veterans Hospital in New York early Thursday.

Wright had been in rehab since a drunk driver hit his car head-on as he and his family were returning from a Church of God in Christ conference in Detroit on July 4,2008.

He had been paralyzed from the chest down but vowed to return to the pulpit at the church he and his wife, Betty, started nearly two decades ago – Grace Tabernacle Christian Center in Crown Heights.

In the 1990s, Wright was twice nominated for a Grammy for best traditional soul gospel album.

His latest album, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, came out in 2007.

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