My Tribute (To God Be The Glory)

Album: House of Gospel Anthology: The '70s (1972)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • When Andraé Crouch was 18 years old, he started working in the Los Angeles Center of Teen Challenge, a faith-based corporation that helps people with problems such as substance abuse. On his first day at the center, he met ex-prisoner Larry Reed, whom he befriended.

    Years later, Andraé was thanking God for his experiences at the teen center when he received a phone call from his pal. The gospel star recalled to Lindsay Terry: "He said, 'Hey Andy! This is Larry.' I kinda chuckled. He said, 'I had a dream about you the other night. I dreamed that you were going to write a song that is going to go around the world. It will be the biggest song you ever wrote, to this day.'"

    "I asked, 'Well, what do I have to read?' He said, 'Read John, chapter 17.' In that passage Jesus said, 'Father, I have glorified Thee, now glorify me.' I read the passage and didn't feel any inspiration to write."

    "The following morning I got up singing 'to God be the glory.' I asked myself, 'Where did that come from?' I then went to the piano and wrote 'My Tribute,' in about 10 minutes."
  • The evening after he wrote the song, Andraé taught "My Tribute" to some guests at a dinner party he was attending. He recalled: "I told them about Larry's prediction that I would write a song that would go all over the world. My host, Carrie Gonzalo, asked, 'This morning, you wrote the song we've just been singing?!!' I said, 'Yes, but it can't be that song!'"

    "As we sat there we read the scripture passage in John chapter 17, which Larry suggested. ('I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.') I excitedly said, 'It's all about GLORY!'" (Source The St. Augustine Record)
  • This is one of Andraé Crouch's best known songs and has been covered by many other artists including Sandi Patty, Crystal Lewis, Nicole C. Mullen and Israel Houghton.

Comments: 1

  • Holy Dance from Antelope Valley My Tribute ( To God Be The Glory) has been recorded over 3000 times in over 20 languages
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s EditionMusic Quiz

You know the scenes - Tom Cruise in his own pants-off dance off, Molly Ringwald celebrating her birthday - but do you remember what song is playing?

History Of Rock

History Of RockSong Writing

An interview with Dr. John Covach, music professor at the University of Rochester whose free online courses have become wildly popular.

Don Brewer of Grand Funk

Don Brewer of Grand FunkSongwriter Interviews

The drummer and one of the primary songwriters in Grand Funk talks rock stardom and Todd Rundgren.

Tim Butler of The Psychedelic Furs

Tim Butler of The Psychedelic FursSongwriter Interviews

Tim and his brother Richard are the Furs' foundation; Tim explains how they write and tells the story of "Pretty In Pink."

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce PavittSong Writing

The man who ran Nirvana's first label gets beyond the sensationalism (drugs, Courtney) to discuss their musical and cultural triumphs in the years before Nevermind.