The Great Ones
MercyMe's "I Can Only Imagine" sold about three million records
By Deborah Evans Price, senior music editor, GospelMusicChannel.com
In the last few decades, as gospel music has expanded beyond the walls of the church to permeate every facet of our lives and culture, certain songs have helped define the genre and shape the musical expressions of artists of all faiths.
GospelMusicChannel.com asked some of your favorite singers to share with us the songs that have become the most influential of our generation, helping to change the face of gospel music. Here’s what they had to say – and as you’ll see, they couldn’t always name just one song; some named several. For one particularly influential artist, it was an entire album that had tremendous impact.
“Bob Carlisle and Donnie McClurkin both did 'We Fall Down' and that was a great song. It was nice to see it done by a guy like Bob Carlisle who is a classic Christian musician and then to see Donnie McClurkin do it and put a little injection of soul and gospel in it. I think it shows diversity, but also, it’s a track that expresses the fact that we don’t have it all together, that we depend on God and we rest in Him, but we are going to make our mistakes and stumble and fall – as another band put it once.” --tobyMac
“It goes back to Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill and Andraé Crouch. That’s what changed it for me. I think about 'Why Should the Devil Have the Good Music' by Larry Norman, 'To God Be the Glory' by Andraé Crouch and 'The Outlaw' by Randy [Stonehill]. Everybody is going to have an opinion, but to me, it’s that early stuff. When I went into a bookstore in my little town of Kenova, West Virginia, I started going through those record bins and back then I became a Jesus Freak, zapped by the Holy Spirit! I remember pulling out this white record with a red Maranatha sign and it said, ‘The everlasting living Jesus music concert.’ I turned the cover over, and there were all these people with long hair. I bought that record, and that record changed my life because they were playing rock & roll. It was Christian music that I didn’t even know existed. I remember thinking, ‘Oh my gosh! That’s what I want to do!’ That’s when I found out about Larry and about Randy and then I became an Andraé fan as well.”
--Michael W. Smith
“There was a musical project called Hallelujah, and it was produced by Ron Huff in the ‘70s. I don’t even know if you could still find it. I didn’t grow up hearing very much gospel music, and to me, it was an incredibly moving music worship experience. That’s way back, but I feel like that was a turning point for a lot of people.” --Amy Grant
“'Awesome God' by Rich Mullins – I think that was the song that really influenced the church in a mighty way and really opened the doors for worship music, this coming from an artist who was a Christian artist, but at the same time, not necessarily a worship artist that did exclusively worship music. It was a big worship song in my life and the church.” --Mac Powell, Third Day
“A song that changed the face of Christian music in my book was 'Jesus Freak' by dcTalk. At the time everybody was just cooking along, doing their thing and I was at this festival – Atlanta Fest in Atlanta –and dcTalk is playing and rocking like they always did. Suddenly they said, ‘We want to play this new song’ and it ripped our faces off, melted our faces with the rock that came out. We’re like, ‘What is this? I’ve never heard anything like this in my life!’” --Mark Hall, Casting Crowns
“I would say ‘Shout To the Lord’ because to me, it was one of the first songs that really went around the globe in a major way as far as the modern worship music goes. You have songs like ‘Amazing Grace’ that have gone around the world, but ‘Shout To The Lord,’ in our generation, is probably the song. Wherever there is dirt on the earth, people sang it.” --Chris Tomlin
“'I Can Only Imagine' by MercyMe – That song just blew up, and the Lord really used [it] not only in Christian music, but also going over to mainstream. I remember riding in the car and hearing it on the Christian radio station in my hometown and then turning over to the mainstream station and they were playing it. It shows how huge this song was. The Lord can use Christian music to get to mainstream music and that’s really cool. The song was so huge that they [had] to take notice of what was going on.” --Wes Willis, Rush of Fools' lead vocalist
“I have to give you two or three. When I went to Reunion Records, we did 'Awesome God' with Rich Mullins. That was a milestone. And I’d have to say 'Butterfly Kisses' by Bob Carlisle was enormous. And then recently 'I Can Only Imagine' with MercyMe. 'Butterfly Kisses' by Bob Carlisle sold approximately three million records. 'I Can Only Imagine' sold about three million records. 'Awesome God' was such a church song, it possibly sold the church equivalent of three million records in terms of how many times it’s been sung in a church by a choir. I’ve had some intersections with some extremely important and genre defining music and I feel very, very fortunate. We’re only here because of the music. If the music isn’t good or relatable, it doesn’t go anywhere. All we try to do is help fuel the fire that’s already there.” --Jeff Moseley, president of INO Records
“'Rise Again' by Dallas Holm was the first song I ever heard that made me stop in my tracks and think ‘This is what I want to do.’ We had the record when I was a kid and on Sunday morning we’d play it on the record player and I’d listen to that song over and over. I was a little kid, probably in the fourth grade. I absolutely loved it. It’s an incredible song. I think it’s screaming to be re-done. --Bart Millard, MercyMe
“'Rise Again' by Dallas Holm – There’s a song that I loved from the ‘80s that I think maybe changed some things. I used to sing that at Easter, and I still do. The words are ‘Go ahead, drive the nails into my hands/Laugh at me where you stand.’ That song encompasses everything about the spirit of Christianity. When you think about that sentiment, you understand why people go to church. It changed something for me when I heard that, and I would imagine it changed things for gospel music. I don’t think songs before that were as graphic. I don’t think there was this license to write a song like that prior to 'Rise Again.' Most gospel songs were from our perspective. That song is sung from Jesus’ perspective and that’s the unique thing.”
--Brad Paisley
"'I Can Only Imagine' by MercyMe – It’s such a blunt, honest message, and it has been heard by millions of people outside of the Christian industry. I think that was a huge thing for them and for the Christian music industry as well.” --Krystal Meyers
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About the Writer
Deborah Evans Price has covered Christian/Gospel music for Billboard magazine since 1994. She also contributes regularly to Country Weekly, CMA Close Up, Devo’Zine, Christian Single, HomeLife, BMI Music World, and other publications.
A Nashville resident since 1983, Deborah has held editorial posts at Radio & Records, Country News, American Songwriter and Billboard. Amy Grant, Trace Adkins, Brad Paisley, Charlie Daniels, 3 Doors Down, Third Day, Don Henley, Bon Jovi, Chris Rice, Sandra Bullock, Mercy Me, Alan Jackson, Smokey Robinson, Carrie Underwood and Steven Curtis Chapman are among her many interviews. Additionally, she's a sought-after music industry analyst who has been interviewed on CNN, MSNBC, TNN, The Today Show, and ABC PrimeTime Live, among other outlets.
Deborah is a member of the Gospel Music Association's board of directors and a graduate of Leadership Music. She resides south of Nashville with her husband, Gary, and 18-year-old son Trey.
