Ron Carroll, house music vocalist and DJ, dies at 54

Ron Carroll, a house music vocalist, DJ and producer known around the world as the "Minister of Sound," died Sunday at the age of 54.

The cause was a heart attack, according to his cousin, Cynthia Henderson.

He's collaborated with artists such as Bob Sinclar, Little Louie Vega of Masters at Work, Barbara Tucker and Destiny’s Child. The list also includes Missy Elliott, Pink and Frankie Knuckles, according to friend and Grammy Award-winning artist Maurice Joshua.

His most successful song was "Lucky Star," a tune released in 2000 by the French electronic dance group Superfunk that featured Mr. Carroll on vocals. The group shot a music video starring Mr. Carroll at various locations in Chicago.

Mr. Carroll played clubs and festivals around the world and had regular DJ sets in Chicago, including most recently at Masada Nightclub in Logan Square.

As a kid coming up in South Shore, Mr. Carroll loved metal bands, including Metallica, Kiss and Iron Maiden, he said while being interviewed in 2023 on Maurice Joshua's "Everything House Music and More" podcast.

But his father, who did not like the noise and his son's penchant for air guitar, trashed his cassette tapes and tore down the posters in his room.

Mr. Carroll soon after discovered house music and was quickly hooked.

He grew up singing in the choir while attending services at Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church at 4501 S. Vincennes Ave. He graduated from South Shore High School in 1989.

One day in a high school hallway, a classmate known as a formidable DJ issued a challenge: "Saturday night. My house. In the basement. You and me battle," Mr. Carroll recalled in the 2023 interview.

The basement was packed with teens, and things did not go well for a nervous Mr. Carroll, whose hands struggled to operate the turntable when it was his turn to bring the house down.

But the incident inspired him to double down his efforts. He got better and began playing at parties.

When a friend asked him to sing on a house music record, Mr. Carroll at first hesitated.

"My dad will kill me," he recalled in the 2023 interview of his religious-minded father. "But you can talk about God on it," his friend said.

The result was the 1993 single, "My Prayer," which Mr. Carroll claimed was the first gospel house record.

Mr. Carroll most recently performed vocals on a single called "Can't Stop." He collaborated with Andrew Emil and Red Eye on the song, which released this month.

"His voice is a very powerful and warm baritone that had a range that would go into falsetto area, too. He believed music can save us from the world and ourselves and make us stronger as a community," Emil said.

"He had a personal, up-close connection with everyone who came into contact with him," said friend and colleague Jamahl "Deacon of Dance" Sumrell. "He didn't see skin color, gay or straight, none of that. Your energy and vibe and frequency, that's what mattered to him."

Mr. Carroll was born in Chicago on April 20, 1971, to Henry Carroll, a laborer, and Ruth Carroll, who worked in the warehouse of a South Side department store.

"As a little boy when I babysat him, how he loved to eat. Food was his passion," Henderson said. "And how he made us laugh — he was the jokester; he loved to see us laugh."

A memorial service is scheduled for Oct. 2 from noon to 2 p.m. at Haven Entertainment Center, 932 E. 43rd St.