He was 55.
A visitation for Dedrick will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at Greater St. John Missionary Baptist Church Greater St. John Missionary Baptist Church, 4200 Germantown Pike in Dayton.
Dedrick’s funeral will begin at 1 p.m.
In the 1980s, Dedrick signed with Atlantic Records under the name Merriweather.
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He created a self-titled album, but the recording was never released due to a dispute, Henry said.
Dedrick, who started singing in church as a child, played with several groups during his career including the D-Funk Allstars.
He and his siblings performed gospel music as the Dedrick Singers early in their life.
In an interview for the Funk Music Hall of Fame and Exhibition Center, Dedrick said he started singing at age 3.
At age 18, he went on a world tour with Dayton’s legendary funk band the Ohio Players after forging a relationship with Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner.
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He left Central State University, where he had a music scholarship to travel with the band.
Henry said his version of Prince’s “Purple Rain” was a showstopper in venues around Dayton.
Dedrick and Henry met playing basketball at age 11 and remained friend throughout their life.
“There were time we started conversation in the night and would be talking to the daylight,” Henry said.
Dedrick was multi-talented and could sing, play guitar, bass and drums.
“He could do it all,” Henry said. “That’s was what so unique. It was almost like watching a Prince.”
Dedrick’s survivors include his wife Chauntay Derrick and children.
In 2014, a video for his song “Lonely” was released.
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