Eddie Lee Long was born on May 12, 1953, and died on January 15, 2017.

He was an American pastor who served as the senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, a megachurch in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, from 1987 until his death in 2017.

after he became a pastor for New Birth Church, there were 300 church members, which grew to 25,000.

At that time, Long was a subject of a Senate investigation, concerning whether he personally profited from his church’s tax-exempt status, which eventually ended without a finding of wrongdoing.

Also, civil lawsuits were filed against him alleging sexual abuse of multiple underage male members of his parish.

He did not claim the accusations, through his attorneys and privately settled the lawsuits out of court for undisclosed amounts.

Eddie Long passed away at 63 years old.