Fabian Ledgister, Staff Reporter
Gospel singer Eleanor Riley. - IAN ALLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
ELEANOR RILEY, who has been singing since she was 10, is walking testimony of the power of steadfast faith.
The daughter of deacon Edison Ridgeway, Eleanor started singing at the Church of the First Born in Denbigh, Clarendon. In fact, as word of the 10 year-old's ability spread, her father was able to carry her along on ministerial campaigns islandwide. Eventually, other pastors asked her to sing before their sermons.
However, Eleanor was by no means a spoilt child riding on the back of her father's position, as at the same time she was excelling at Vere Technical High and soon drew the attention of the principal, Mr. Francis.
"I remember I was scared out of my wits when Mr. Francis called me over one day, as he was known as a strict disciplinarian. He said to me that there was something different about me. I proudly responded 'because I am a Christian, sir'," reminisced Riley.
UNDERSTANDING
It wasn't until high school that she began to truly understand the word of God. "I'm from an era where you dare not tell your parents that you didn't want to attend church, however, I think I truly became a Christian at 16," stated Eleanor.
With new-found conviction Eleanor continued to sing in churches islandwide, also taking a job as a bookkeeper at the West Indies Sugar Co. and then at Shagories Hardware as an assistant bookkeeper. In that time period she also met a guitar playing policeman named Cecil George Riley.
In 1970 Eleanor migrated to New York, USA, where she stayed with a couple from her old church and continued her schooling, but she was still an avid church singer. Though she desired to do recordings, finances did not allow it until 1974, when Riley and four others pooled their meagre funds and rented a studio for a day, recording four songs. "As amateurs we took longer than normal ... Church members 'trusted' records and never paid, so that was a lost venture," lamented Eleanor.
She abandoned her recording efforts, continuing to sing in church. She also met up with the 'policeman guitarist,' who had caught her eyes a few years earlier in Jamaica; and in August 1977 the two exchanged marital vows. By then a Bishop, for many years Cecil Riley sermonised while his wife sang, just like her days travelling with her father, and Eleanor turned her back on prospects of a recording career.
In 1992, after complaining of stomach pains, Eleanor was diagnosed by a Dr. Deiruse with a rare kidney disease named Membranif Glomeric Nephritis, which is potentially fatal. "The doctor said I should go on dialysis immediately until I had a kidney transplant, but God was with me and the doctor soon called me informing me of an experimental drug," stated Eleanor.
She had to take 161/2 pills daily, in addition to seven egg whites, eight glasses of cranberry juice and a large quantity of vegetables. "It was in my time of suffering that God spoke to me and said "you have a voice, use it","said Riley. In August 1994, Dr. Deiruse gave told her that she was cured.
With a second chance at life and a God-given message of encouragement, Eleanor again wished to pursue a recording career. In 1996 she met Noel Willis of the Grace Thrillers, who invited her to record at his Showers Of Blessing Studio. In 1998 she released her first album, From The Setback. "I wrote the title track, From The Setback, based on my experience of overcoming my adversities, as I think there is a great message in my story," said Eleanor.
STUDIO WORKAHOLIC
She became a 'studio workaholic' from there on, releasing a second album, entitled, Christmas At Home With Eleanor, a few months later. Taste The Victory came in 2000, Flying Higher in 2001, My Story in 2002, and From The Heart in 2003.
Now, after a year's break from recording, Eleanor Riley has returned with her seventh full-length effort, Goodness And Mercy. "Unlike all my other albums that were partly digitally generated music, this one was completely backed by live instrumentals recorded in Nashville, as I felt that I should do something completely different for this album," commented Riley.
In a true act of selflessness, Eleanor, while doing a promotion in St. Vincent for Flying Higher, met a woman who had heard of her testimony and was also suffering from kidney failure. Touched by the woman's plight, Eleanor returned to St. Vincent and after doing a series of concerts and other fund-raising endeavours, helped organise a transplant from the woman's brother and financed her medication. "I recently checked with her and she got to return to school and earn her degree and I'm happy to say she is now working and supporting herself," stated Eleanor.
