Known as the "Prince of Praise," celebrated Gospel singer Byron Cage has been performing and recording songs since the 1980s and has become known for a self-described "cross-cultural, mass-appeal praise and worship" style that has kept his albums in the Billboard Gospel Top Ten almost continuously since it began in 2003.
 Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Byron Cage grew up in a Christian family and attended church as a child. His exceptional gift as a singer reared its head very early. His mother noticed that Byron, who seldom cried, preferred to hum some unknown melodies to himself as a baby, to amuse himself. She would say, "Listen to him! He's just singin' away!" It's no surprise that his first solo in church happened when he was only four years old. In his teenage years, Cage picked up the sax and keyboard, becoming very proficient in both.
He attended Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, and at age 23 won a scholarship to attend Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. There he also began attending Bishop Eddie Long's church, the New Birth Cathedral, then known as the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. Bishop Long later presided over Cage's marriage to Sonya Windham Cage, a pediatric dentist, in 2004.
Cage's career as a Gospel singer began when he was still in his teens and he held the role of choir director at the Greater Grace Temple in Detroit. He was invited to join the group Commissioned, then known as the Disciples of Christ, along with Fred Hammond and others, but his studies stood in the way. Commissioned would later give Cage's career a lift when they asked him to appear on their third album. Cage also became involved in and starred in early productions by Gospel playwrite Michael Mathews.
As well as touring with the late Thomas Whitfield, a Gospel star ten years his senior, whom he lists as his musical mentor, Cage spent a decade at the Bishop Long's New Birth Cathedral and became musical director. In his time there he gradually transformed the traditional old-style Baptist church into a Gospel-oriented, charismatic style. While he acknowledges that the process was difficult and painful for some, its success was considerable.
Cage released his debut album, Dwell Among Us, in 1995. But it was 2003's Byron Cage that brought him to the attention of the wider public and to the mainstream music industry. Recorded at New Birth Cathedral, the album won four Stellar Awards in 2004, including "Best Male Vocalist," "Best Song," with Kurt Carr, "Best CD," and "Best Contemporary CD." Carr, his longtime collaborator and producer, picked up an award for "Producer of the Year." The album also won a Soul Train Award for "Best Gospel Album, 2004."
In the late 1990s Cage accepted the position of minister of music at Ebenezer AME Church whose pastor is Rev Browning. Cage has since become senior minister of church worship and music administration at Ebenezer. Cage also continues to record life-changing music, with his latest album Live At The Apollo: The Proclamation released on September 18, 2007.
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