Introduction
Leon Norman Patillo (born January 1, 1947 in San Francisco, California) is an American Contemporary Christian singer and evangelist.
Career
Patillo's first musical endeavor was with the group Creation, later called Leon's Creation. Formed in the late 1960s, Creation was a funk group similar in style and composition to Sly & the Family Stone; they were signed to Atlantic Records. Aside from Creation, Patillo worked at times with Funkadelic and Martha & the Vandellas. In 1973, Patillo joined Santana, appearing on the albums Borboletta and Festival. He remained with Santana until 1979, launching a solo career on Word Records. He released a string of successful albums on the CCM market in the 1980s, and had his own television show on TBN called Leon and Friends.
Patillo founded his own record label, Positive Pop, in the 1990s, and his most recent releases have been on this imprint. For years, Patillo pastored the Rock House Church on the historic Queen Mary in Long Beach, California but since retired the ministry in late 2009 in favor for traveling and leading seminars across the country.
Discography
- Dance Children Dance (1979)
- Don't Give In (1981)
- I'll Never Stop Lovin' You (1982)
- Live Experience (1983) U.S. Top Contemporary Christian albums No. 10
- Sky's the Limit (1984) U.S. Christian No. 5
- Love Around the World (1985) U.S. Christian No. 7
- A Funny Thing Happened (1986)
- Brand New (1987) U.S. Christian No. 8
- On the Way Up (1989)
- Christmas with Leon (1992)
- Hands of Praise (1992)
- Church Is on the Move (1993)
- Souly for Him (1994)
- The Classics (1996)
- I Can (1999)
- Breathe on Me (2005)
- Live Experience 2 (2005)
- Billboard, Allmusic.com, passim.