Gospel singer Ricky Dillard was born and raised in Chicago, where he began singing in a church choir at an early age. At the age of five he began directing the youth choir and later young adult choirs. Dillard came across two recordings that inspired him to pursue gospel singing even more: James Cleveland and Aretha Franklin's "Amazing Grace" with the Southern California Community Choir, and one by the Institutional Radio Choir from Brooklyn, NY.

In the '90s, he started issuing solo albums, supported by New G, that merged gospel with dance music. Releases included 1991's Grammy-nominated Promise, 1993's A Holy Ghost Take-Over, 1995's Hallelujah, and 1996's Worked It Out. Starting with 2000's No Limit, his albums were in the Top Ten of Billboard's gospel chart. Keep Living (2004) and Amazing (2014), the latter of which was also nominated for a Grammy. Three years later, Ricky Dillard & New G delivered 10, which became their second consecutive gospel number one.