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Services for Daryl Coley will be held in  Gardena, CA at City of Refuge Church. Bishop Noel Jones will officiate, according to internet fliers.   After suffering from illnesses including diabetes and renal kidney disease for many years,  the musician died in hospice on March 15, 2016 at the age of 60 years old. Coley gained primary notoriety as a gospel singer/musician from collaborations with the  Edwin Hawkins Singers, Tramaine Hawkins, James Cleveland, Carlton Pearson  and other artists. Coley artistry merged across musical sectors and included collaborations with secular mainstream artists.

We’re still, as a people, trying to get somebody else’s approval for the music that God has given us. I think we should start validating ourselves and supporting ourselves. Sometimes the gospel community wants to act so aloof and so ‘grand’. But they’re not supporting the ones who are (only) singing gospel. The same ones who complain about paying $10 to hear somebody sing gospel, feel nothing about paying $40-$50 to hear Whitney Houston or Anita Baker…We take the ministry and the artistry for granted. And 99.9 per cent of the artists out there came out of the church! But the church in its ignorance has run them away! -Pastor Daryl Coley, (Cross Rhythms Magazine February 1,1995).

Among Coley’s work and influences were jazz artist Nancy Wilson, Patti Labelle, Peter Escovedo, Stevie Wonder and others according to the encyclopedia.  A YouTube video features Pastor Coley singing a secular song to Michael Jackson and paying tribute to Michael Jackson  in a song called “Carry Me, Will You Be There?”. Coley spoke of a struggle in his  sexuality in Cross Rhythms Magazine.

We’ve got to deal with sexuality across the board. Not just the gay life. Sometimes we feel like (when) we get wrapped up in a person, (then) maybe the Lord will make allowances, but if it’s not the way the Word says, it stems from unrighteousness. As a church, we preach against homosexuality, but we don’t deal with the subtleness of the Enemy. How it can woo you and get you at your lowest point. -Pastor Daryl Coley, (Cross Rhythms Magazine February 1,1995)

In 2009, Coley performed and supported a vision at a same-sex church, Vision Center with Pastor O.C. Allen and first gentleman Rashad.

Coley’s memorial services

The Coley family  requests that people seek their  approval on all concert tributes.