Wait...They're Christian?!

Last month, I did a list of American Idol finalists (and winners) that either have a career or were influenced by Christian/Gospel music. Now, let's expand on this idea: there are more artists outside of AI that are Christian or have Christian/Gospel hits. Even I was surprised with some of these! Here are 10 artists (again, in no particular order).

1. Owl City (aka Adam Young)

What He's Known For: the catchy single "Fireflies"

What He Says About His Faith and Career: " I guess my whole message or goal of this whole operation is to bring glory to Jesus Christ by all that I do and say, not just as it relates to Owl City, but in all areas of my life." --Christianity Today Magazine interview (April 20, 2010)

2. Mat Kearney

What He's Known For: You might have heard his music on the likes of "Grey's Anatomy" and other TV shows.

What He Says About His faith and Career: "[The song "Undeniable" is] a song about God and people and love—it’s about life,” he says. “It’s totally vertical and all of that at the same time. I wouldn’t pin it down and say it’s just about a girl; it’s definitely about my faith." --CCM Magazine Interview (2007)

3. Switchfoot

What They're Known For: Gaining success with the "Walk to Remember" soundtrack and "The Beautiful Letdown."

What They Said About Their Faith and Career: "I must start by saying that what I do is an incredible gift, and I am very thankful to be playing music for people who want to listen. But every job has it's difficulties. One hard thing is that we seldom get to attend our home churches because we are normally out of town on the weekends. The travelling can be very detrimental to relationships. But probably the strangest thing is the contradiction of being on stage and trying to be the least. The tendency in today's culture is to want to be a 'star,' but I want to be a servant." --Jesus Freak Hideout Interview (2000)

4. Relient K

What They're Known For: the albums "Mmhmm" and "Five Score and Seven Years Ago"

What They Said About Their Faith and Career: "We would just like to be able to play more with bands that aren’t just in the Christian market and to play shows in front of people who aren’t all Christians. It’s where we feel we have the most impact." --CCM Magazine (January 2004)

5. P.O.D.

What They're Known For: "WE ARE WE ARE...THE YOUTH OF THE NATION!"

What They Said About Their Faith and Career: "The most important thing, man, is my love and respect for God and what I believe to be true, you know what I’m saying? My love and my respect for my wife and my family and the fact that P.O.D. is even out here is a privilege. All that keeps me straight." --CCM Magazine

6. Sixpence None The Richer

What They're Known For: The song "Kiss Me," and their covers of "There She Goes" and "Don't Dream It's Over" pretty much ruling the 90s.

What They Said About Their Faith and Career: "We have often been frustrated by being labeled a Christian band and have explained why countless times. I am a big fat Christian and do not care who knows that. When it comes to our music we'd just like it to be taken for it's musical value and not lobbed onto a big bandwagon. I'm not concerned with answering to anyone or pleasing anyone but God, so I'm much less affected these days by the negativity that is sometimes directed towards us for being either too Christian or not Christian enough."--Jesus Freak Hideout interview (June 30, 2003)

7. Stacie Orrico 

What She's Known For: Remember when MTV still played music? Because her 1st single "Stuck" was all over TRL!

What She Said About Her Faith and Career: "A lot of artists feel called to reach Christians and encourage them. But I’ve always seen myself reaching kids who aren’t necessarily going to go to a Christian concert. When my booking agent called to ask if I wanted to do some Destiny’s Child dates, I immediately thought, ‘This is where I’m supposed to be.’"---CCM Magazine (December 2001)

8. Jaci Velasquez

What She's Known For: Being a success on the Christian and Latin charts (although you wouldn't know it if you saw the movie "Chasing Papi")

What She Said About Her Faith and Career: "Sometimes Christian music can be a little bit like 'Let me just tell you the good stuff, let me tell you the promises, and we'll leave out the other stuff.' But the realistic thing about Christianity is that's not realistic. It's not like that by becoming a believer suddenly means your life is gonna work and everything's gonna work and everything's gonna be perfect. In fact, you're gonna get hit much harder than you would if you weren't a believer. I feel like with this record [Love Out Loud] I wanted to let people know that they're not alone."--Jesus Freak Hideout interview (April 22, 2008)

9. Lifehouse

What They're Known For: Having a string of hits beginning with "Hanging By A Moment" in 2001.Their song "Everything" is immortalized in a Christian YouTube video skit.

What They Said About Their Faith and Career: "My music is spiritually based, but we don't want to be labeled as a 'Christian band,' because all of a sudden people's walls come up and they won't listen to your music and what you have to say." --Rolling Stone

10. The Fray

What They're Known For: Hits like "How to Save a Life" and "You Found Me"

What They Said About Their Faith and Career: "We don't call ourselves a Christian band. Because when you get into marketing, 'Christian' means that you have everything together, and you're always happy, and you want everybody to start going to your church. The common denominators in the music I've liked is the honesty of not having answers and the passion to find them. I think that's what spiritual music has, whether it's Christian or pop or new age. If we have an agenda, it's to make art that is honest and represents what we believe in." ---USA Today (July 12, 2006)

Report From Billboard (Week of 10/23/10)

New feature alert! I've decided that every once in a while, I'll post lists from Billboard of the most popular Christian and Gospel songs and albums. Since Billboard is one of the authorities on popular music, I should have their input in this blog. I'll include a link to Billboard's website, but I'll reveal the #1 choice for the week here. So, here goes:

Christian Songs: "Lead Me" by Sanctus Real
Christian Albums: Wow Hits 2011 (Various Artists) - Think of it as the Christian/Gospel version of the "Now That's What I Call Music" series
Gospel Songs: "I Believe" by James Fortune & FIYA feat. Zacardi Cortez & Shawn McLemore
Gospel Albums: "Rehab" by LeCrae

Artist Spotlight: Brandon Heath

Another one of my favorite artists, Brandon Heath first came on the scene in 2006 with Don't Get Too Comfortable. That album spawned the single "I'm Not Who I Was," which was #1 on Billboard's Hot Christian Chart for 6 consecutive weeks, and 4 Dove Award nominations (he won 1: for Best New Artist). His second album, 2008's What if We, spawned "Give Me Your Eyes," his most successful single to date: #1 on the Christian charts for multiple weeks, highest debuting Christian track at the time, nominated for a Grammy (Best Gospel Song), won 2 Dove Awards (including Song of the Year 2009) and the second most-played Christian song in 2008. He recently released "Your Love," the first single off his upcoming 2011 album. 

Interesting facts:

• He has been featured on the "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric"
• The Sunday edition of the New York Times said that he was a Grammy-nominated newcomer that "shouldn't be allowed to slipped through the cracks."
• He received his first guitar at 13 and started writing songs around that time
• According to his biography on All Music's website, his guitar was stolen in 2000. To raise money for a new one, he compiled a demo CDs of his songs. That demo was eventually independently released in 2004 as Early Stuff. 
• He once roomed with singer-songwriter Matt Wertz
• "I'm Not Who I Was" was covered by American Idol finalist Jason Castro
• He is co-creator of the "Love Your Neighbor" benefit for the Nashville community. This annual event raises funds and awareness for a highlighted need. 

AMA Nominations are out!

Earlier today, the nominations for the American Music Awards were announced. There is only one category for Christian music: Favorite Contemporary Artist. And the nominees are:

Casting Crowns
- Most recent album: Until the Whole World Hears (now certified Platinum!)
- Other albums: Casting Crowns, Lifesong, The Altar and the Door, Peace on Earth (Christmas Album), + 4 Live Albums
-Career Achievements: Most played Christian Artists of 2007, 2nd fastest Christian band to have their first 2 albums certified Platinum, 11 Dove Awards (Christian version of the Grammys), 1 Grammy

Mercy Me
-Most recent album: The Generous Mr. Lovewell
-Other albums: Almost There, Spoken For, Undone, The Christmas Sessions (Christmas Album),
Coming Up to Breathe, All That is Within Me (Praise and Worship Album), + 6 Independent Albums & 1 Compilation Album
-Career Achievements: 1st Album certified Double Platinum (partially because of the success of their 1st single "I Can Only Imagine"), 4 Albums certified Gold, 8 Dove Awards, 1 AMA, Billboard Magazine Decade Awards (2000-2009): #1Songs Artist of the Decade, #1  Songs Adult Contemporary Artist of the Decade, #1 Christian Song of the Decade (Word of God Speak)

TobyMac
-Most Recent album: Tonight
-Other Albums: Momentum, Welcome to Diverse City, Portable Sounds + 2 Remix Albums, 1 Live Albums, & 5 Albums with DC Talk
-Career Achievements (solo career only): 1 Grammy, 11 Dove Awards, 1 Album certified Gold, 2 million albums sold

So, who will win? That's up to you! Voting is open at www.amavote.com and ama.abc.com until November 12. The winners will be revealed on November 21 on ABC.

"Coming Out" in Christian Music

         I remember a conversation I had with my step-father in which he told me that retired Christian singer Ray Boltz was gay. Surprised, I did some research and found that in 2008, a DC-based LGBT newspaper, the Washington Blade, ran an article in which Boltz officially came out of the closet. Although the Blade’s website no longer has the article, I found this editorial  discussing it. In the interview, Boltz says, “I’d denied it since I was a kid. I became a Christian, I thought that was the way to deal with this and I prayed hard and tried for 30-some years and then at the end, I was just going, ‘I’m still gay…’”

Ray Boltz wasn’t the first Christian music artist to come of out the closet and he wasn’t the last. A year later, gospel artist and pastor Tonex (real name Anthony Williams) came out on “The Lexi Show,” (Part 1,  Part 2, Part 3) a Christian entertainment show. In the interview, Williams revealed that he had been molested twice as a child, but he doesn’t attribute that his decision to “come out.” Unlike Boltz, Williams said that accepting his homosexuality wasn’t a struggle: “People like to blame the struggle on molestation. No. Just say you’re attracted to men; be honest.”

In April, former Christian singer Jennifer Knapp released a new album after a 7-year hiatus and announced that not only is she a lesbian, but she was in a same-sex relationship for 8 years. According to an interview with Christianity Today magazine, Knapp decided to come out after she made the decision to leave Christian music. Although she says, “I’m the happiest I’ve ever been,” she still fears that “…there are people I care about within the church community who would seek to throw me out, simply because of who I’ve chosen to spend my life with.”

What’s interesting is that while both Knapp and Tonex stated that they chose to be gay, Boltz says, “…if this is the way God made me, then this is the way I’m going to live.” However, in 2007, Dr. Francis Collins, the head of the Human Genome Project, announced that “…sexual orientation is genetically influenced but not hardwired by DNA, and that whatever genes are involved represent predispositions, not predeterminations.” This means that it’s possible to choose your sexuality.

This was certainly the case for gospel singer Donnie McClurkin. In his book “Eternal Victim/Eternal Victor,” McClurkin revealed that he struggled with homosexuality after being molested by male relatives twice during childhood. Unlike Tonex, McClurkin says that he turned away from his homosexual desires through his faith. These statements have stirred controversy. For instance, his participation in a gospel concert for then-presidential nominee Barack Obama was met with protests from gay rights groups. 

The fact that some famous Christian artists are gay may seem surprising, especially since Christianity teaches that homosexuality is a sin. In Tonex’s case, being a pastor and gospel artist allows him to teach about acceptance. For Boltz and Knapp, it’s more about reconciling their faith with their lifestyle than being a public figure. Boltz says that he feels closer to God because of his decision, but for Knapp, she feels that she has to justify her faith because of her decision. This comes to show that “coming out” affects everyone, including the Christian community.

Michael W. Smith Addresses Abuse in the Church

I was going through foxnews.com and this article caught my eye. If you don't know about Michael W. Smith, know that he is one of the most respected artists in the Christian music genre (44 Dove Awards, 3 Grammys, and he was one of People Magazine's Most Beautiful People!). In talking about his new album, "Wonder" he address abuse in the church through his song "Leave" and gives his thoughts on the recent Bishop Eddie Long scandal. The link also includes a video of him singing the song. For more on Michael W. Smith, watch my post with his song, "There She Stands"

Michael W. Smith FoxNews.com