DJ, house music vocalist, songwriter, music producer, lifelong Chicagoan and LGBTQ+ ally Ron Carroll, who was known worldwide as the “Minister of Sound,” died Sept. 21 from a heart attack. He was 54.
Carroll was born April 20, 1971, in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood where he spent his childhood and teen years. He was a very curious young person who loved to play little league baseball. Carroll also sang in the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church choir where his family attended services and that is where he discovered his love of music.
In an appearance on Maurice Joshua’s “Everything House Music and More” podcast in 2023, Carroll said he loved metal bands as a young person, especially Metallica, Kiss and Iron Maiden. Carroll also told Joshua that his father Henry Carroll thought that music was evil so he trashed his cassette tape collection and tore down the metal bands posters in his bedroom. After that incident, Carroll found house music while watching the DJ perform at a high school dance.
Carroll was challenged by a DJ classmate in the hallway of his South Shore High School to do a music battle in his basement which was packed with fellow teens. He was nervous and as a result things did not work out for him that night. Carroll tried to operate the turntable but his hands would not cooperate. This caused Carroll to double down and improve his DJ skills, which he later parlayed into playing at parties to earn money.
After Carroll graduated from high school in 1989 he became a full-time DJ and musician. He opened a club in the late 1980s and did the DJ sets there. The house music circuit is where Carroll was primarily active where he worked with that genre’s most famous producers—E-Smoove, Joshua, Bob Sinclar and Rod Carrillo.
Carroll’s first single was the 1993 “My Prayer” produced by Hula, Kay Fingers and Ron Trent. He called this single the first gospel house song. Carroll would go on to write many more singles under his own name and various aliases as well as one album in 2006 called Chicago.
At the 1994 Winter Music Conference in Miami, Carroll got his first big professional break when he approached Louie Vega who in turn asked him to write Barbara Tucker’s “I Get Lifted” lyrics. From there, Carroll joined Chicago house scene members Mike Dunn and Byron Stingily as a singer, songwriter and producer for their Deep Soul production company.
Among Carroll’s other professional accomplishments were as a lyricist on six tracts for Stingily’s album The Purist, as the anthem “The Sermon” writer and producer and, in 1996, as the co-creator of MOS Productions (for Ministers of Sound) with Greek-American producer Spero Pagos for the UC/Afterhours label. Carroll was also introduced to the European house scene by fellow UC/Afterhours label artist Mazi Namvar.
In 2020, Carroll became Teddy Productions Director of Operations and Creative Services and a year later he opened his own label, Body Music Records.
Carroll had residencies at various music venues in many neighborhoods in all corners of Chicago.
At the time of Carroll’s death, he was set to release his latest single.
To honor Carroll’s years as a leader in Chicago’s music scene, he was honored with a proclamation by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson in June 2023.
Carroll was preceded in death by his parents Henry and Ruth Carroll. He is survived by his brothers Henry Carroll Jr and Nathaniel Carroll, extended family members and countless close friends.
Longtime friend Neida Rivera said, “We became a family under the umbrella of House Music. It was our shelter from the streets, pain and bullies. We loved our creatives and called ourselves brothers and sisters. When one falls a piece of us is lost. Thirty years doesn’t seem long enough to know a person. Conversations feel trivial. Giggles and flirtations are whimsy. I can’t remember when I met Ron. It was so long ago. I can’t remember the last time he whispered nonsense at me, as he did, to make me laugh, Or the last side eye we shared.
“Ron lives in us in every note, in every dance move, in every memory. He was an integral part of our great family. Seeing the many pictures of him and all the stories has lessened the loneliness of loss. For we are all in pain this night. We have lost together. He knew he was great. He knew he was loved. Thats all we can hope for. The heavens are rejoicing today. Receive your brother. Till we meet again.”
Carroll’s celebration of life took place Oct. 2 at Haven Entertainment Center.