Remembering Dave Will

Dave Will, longtime baritone singer for The Imperials, went Home on March 4, 2022. He was 78.

After high school, Will worked as a studio artist and even spent a year in art school. But the call of God was on his life. He dropped out of the Academy of Art in Chicago and instead enrolled at North Central, an Assemblies of God Bible College in Minnesota. Dave became a licensed minister and married his high school sweetheart, Janice.

Born in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, Will grew up immersed in music, art and ministry. At church he learned to love singing and harmonizing; this led to him joining various Gospel trios and quartets as a young man.

The Keystones (Will is top, center)

He became part of a handful of touring southern Gospel groups - the Keystones, the Statesmen and the Tribunes.

(David Will is top, center)

It was at an Imperials concert in 1976 that David was asked to sing during the intermission. The story is told that Armond Morales was listening and asked David to join the legendary group that very night. Morales was in need of replacements for Terry Blackwood and Sherman Andrus. He ended up plugging those holes with David and a young, then-unknown singer by the name of Russ Taff.

Taff was flashy and possessed an other-worldly talent. Will, by comparison, was tame and far less noticeable. But he was mature and rock-steady. He ended up serving as a fixture in the Imperials lineup for some four decades.

Dave Will was featured on so many Imperials classics over the years...songs like Satisfaction Guaranteed, Bread on the Water, He Touched Me, Old Gospel Ship, Growing Stronger and The Deeper Meaning, to name a few.

But he was best known for taking the lead on touching ballads such as You're the Only Jesus, In the Same Old-Fashioned Way, Pieces, Because of Who You Are and, of course, One More Song For You. Singing on approximately 27 albums and compilation projects with The Imperials, Dave ended up winning multiple Grammy and Dove awards, and was inducted into the GMA Hall of Fame.

More important than any of that were the opinions shared by those who worked closely with David Will for decades and knew him well. Following his passing, members of The Imperials described him as "a true Christian...a dedicated husband and father...a loyal friend...and an anointed minister of the Gospel."

"We will miss you way more than you will miss us," read the group's social media post.

One of the most impressive things about David Will was his life-long love affair with and commitment to his wife Janice. They were married for 56 years. What an example. What a legacy.

Congratulations to David Will for a race well run.

"...as long as there is time, and one breath left in me,

there will always be one more song for You..."