christian
Bell Partners Worldwide has acquired Tennessee-based Christian label Gotee Records’ label operations and Emack Music Publishing arm. The partnership marks the launch of a new division, Bell Partners Christian Music, aimed at expanding the global reach of Christian music artists.
Gotee executives Joey Elwood and Toby McKeehan (tobyMac) will continue in leadership roles at Gotee as well as at Bell Partners Christian Music, with Elwood serving as CEO of the latter.
Producers Todd Collins and Elwood, along with Grammy-winning artist tobyMac, founded Gotee Records in 1992. The label has launched the careers of artists including Christian hip-hop pioneers GRITS, Christian R&B group Out of Eden, Relient K (“Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been”), Jennifer Knapp, SonicFlood (“I Could Sing of Your Love Forever”) and Jamie Grace. Gotee’s current roster includes Jon Reddick (“God Turn It Around”), Cochren & Co. (“Money Can’t Buy”), Terrian (“In The Arms”), Ryan Stevenson and Joseph O’Brien.
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Bell Partners Worldwide is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with operations across the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America. The multifaceted music company specializes in rights management, publishing, synchronization, licensing and label services.
“This isn’t an exit strategy — it’s a strategic evolution,” Elwood said in a statement. “After many discussions with Bell Partners, we saw the potential in combining our 30 years of independent label experience with Bell Partners’ global infrastructure. This partnership allows us to elevate Christian music on a worldwide scale, and we’re excited for what’s ahead.”
Hayden Bell, founder/CEO of Bell Partners, added, “We are excited to welcome Gotee Records into the Bell Partners family. Joey and Toby have built an amazing company that has been a cornerstone of the Christian music industry, and I couldn’t wish for better partners as we move forward. This partnership not only strengthens our commitment to nurturing talent but also underscores our dedication to expanding the global influence of Christian music. Together, we will unlock new opportunities for artists, empower their voices, and share their inspirational messages with audiences around the world.”
Singer-songwriter Jason Nelson earns his fifth No. 1 on Billboard’s Gospel Airplay chart (dated Jan. 25) as “Yahweh,” featuring Melvin Crispell III, rises a spot to the top of the Jan. 25-dated survey. During the Jan. 10-16 tracking week, the song increased by 8% in plays, according to Luminate. Nelson, who hails from Baltimore, co-authored […]
Salem Media Group has sold its seven remaining Contemporary Christian-formatted radio stations to the Educational Media Foundation (EMF) for $80 million, the company announced Monday (Dec. 30).
The agreement, which is pending approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), will add or expand EMF programming to seven U.S. markets, with stations including KLTY-FM in Arlington, Texas; WFSH-FM in Athens, Ga.; WFHM-FM in Cleveland; KFSH-FM in La Mirada, Calif.; KKFS-FM in Lincoln, Calif.; KBIQ-FM in Manitou Springs, Colo.; and KFIS-FM in Scappoose, Oreg.
EMF — the parent organization of Christian radio networks Air1 and K-LOVE — noted in a statement that it intends to launch K-LOVE or Air1 Worship Now programming on those signals according to market needs, pending FCC approval. It indicated that it aims to begin programming the stations via a local marketing agreement on Feb. 1.
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Also on Monday, Salem announced that it has entered into an advertising and marketing agreement with EMF for $10 million.
Through its Air1 and K-LOVE networks, EMF reaches approximately 18 million listeners each week. Its Air1 and K-LOVE radio networks have over 1,100 broadcast signals across all 50 states, with global reach through streaming audio.
Salem Media Group’s CCM-formatted radio stations were most commonly operated under the nickname “The Fish.” Founded as Salem Communications in 1974, the company rebranded as Salem Media Group in 2015. It has since grown to become a multimedia company with properties including talk radio, digital media and book/newsletter publishing. According to a March 2024 corporate guide, the company’s other radio signals include 38 Christian teaching and talk radio stations and 30 news talk stations.
Salem’s sale of the seven stations came as part of a group of strategic transactions aimed at shoring up the company’s financial security. As part of this effort, the company repurchased all $159.4 million in outstanding 7.125% senior secured notes due 2028 for $104 million cash and $24 million in subordinated unsecured promissory notes. By midyear 2025, those notes are slated to be exchanged for series A preferred stock. Salem also issued $40 million in series B convertible preferred stock to the foundation WaterStone, with proceeds being used to fund Salem’s debt repurchase. On Dec. 23, Salem extended its revolver line of credit with Siena Lending Group for one year.
“As Salem has leaned into its talk and information programming, we are honored to carry the torch and keep Christian music flowing over these frequencies,” said Tom Stultz, EMF’s interim CEO, in a statement. “These strong stations expand our coverage area and help us deliver on our mission to reach more people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We feel it is an incredible opportunity to continue serving listeners with Christian music in these important markets.”
Edward G. Atsinger, Salem Media Group’s executive chairman/co-founder, said in a statement, “We have made a strategic decision to exit the Contemporary Christian Music format in order to pay off all of Salem’s long-term debt. We could not be more delighted that the buyer is EMF. EMF has demonstrated over many years a unique ability and dedication to creating and distributing the highest quality Christian music content to its listeners in a positive and encouraging way. I am confident that their impact on listeners and their communities will be incredibly effective.”
This isn’t Salem’s first sale to EMF. In March, the company sold its stations in Nashville and Honolulu to EMF for $7 million.
In 2024, Elevation Worship, the music collective based in Charlotte, N.C., leads Billboard’s Top Christian Artists in the overall year-end recap. The group also rules as the leading duo/group of 2024.
Elevation Worship’s eight-song album, Can You Imagine?, is Billboard’s No. 1 Top Christian Albums title of 2024. The set, which spent 14 weeks at No. 1 during the 2024 eligibility period (charts dated Oct. 28, 2023, through Oct. 19, 2024), has remained in the top five on the weekly ranking for most of the chart year.
The week that the album arrived at the summit, group frontman Chris Brown told Billboard: “We’re blown away by the response to our new album and how it’s pointing people to Jesus,” he said. “It’s reminding us that He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine in and through our lives.”
Explore All of Billboard’s 2024 Year-End Charts
Billboard’s year-end music recaps represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts from Oct. 28, 2023, through Oct. 19, 2024. Rankings for Luminate-based recaps reflect equivalent album units, airplay, sales or streaming during the weeks that the titles appeared on a respective chart during the tracking year. Any activity registered before or after a title’s chart run isn’t considered in these rankings. That methodology detail, and the October-October time period, account for some of the difference between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Luminate
Additionally, Elevation Worship’s “Praise” featuring Brandon Lake, Chris Brown and Chandler Moore leads multiple major year-end song charts: the multimetric Hot Christian Songs, along with the radio rankings Christian Airplay Songs and Christian AC Airplay Songs, and even Christian Streaming Songs.
“Praise” hit No. 1 on the weekly Hot Christian Songs chart in March and became the act’s third chart-topper among 15 top 10s. It was the first leader for Brown, Lake’s third of five and Moore’s first. It spent 31 weeks at No. 1 on Hot Christian Songs during the 2024 chart year.
Meanwhile Singer-songwriter Brandon Lake, who is featured on “Praise,” leads Billboard’s Top Christian Artists – Male roundup. Lake, who hails from Dallas, is No. 2 on the overall Top Christian Artists recap.
Lake’s 2023 hit “Gratitude,” which led Hot Christian Songs for 13 weeks during the 2024 chart year, finishes at No. 6 on the year-end Hot Christian Songs recap. The singer-songwriter banked two additional Hot Christian Songs No. 1s: “Praise You Anywhere” rang up six weeks in the penthouse starting in November 2023, and “That’s Who I Praise” became his fifth leader in the final week of the 2024 chart year (Oct. 19, 2024).
Lake notched his first No. 1 on Top Christian Albums with Coat of Many Colors which debuted atop the Nov. 4, 2023 dated tally. The 16-song Colors ranks at No. 5 on the year-end roundup. The 34-year-old from Charleston, S.C., also posts the No. 14 album of 2024, House of Miracles. It peaked at No. 6 on the weekly Top Christian Albums chart in June of 2023, but continued to have a sustained chart run into the 2024 eligibility period.
Billboard’s Top Christian Artists — Female of 2024 is Lauren Daigle, who was 2023’s overall Top Christian Artist. She finishes fourth in the latter category this year. The singer-songwriter who hails from Lafayette, La., has the No. 6 spot on the 2024 top albums survey with her 2023 self-titled album.
Daigle released the initial 10-song self-titled album with the promise that the deluxe version with 10 more tracks would come later. The LP paired the 33-year-old Daigle with new producer Mike Elizondo and was her first through Atlantic Records, which her longtime label, Centricity, formed a partnership in early 2023.
The first version of the LP entered at the summit on May 27, 2023, returning to the apex that September with the deluxe version, which added 13 tracks to the original release. It led on Sept. 23, 2023, with 13,000 units and has remained on Top Christian Albums throughout 2024.
Meanwhile Daigle’s earlier albums remain extremely popular. Her third of four No. 1 sets, Look Up Child from 2018, is No. 3 on the Top Christian Albums year-end ranking.
The No. 2 female of the year (and No. 5 overall) is Anne Wilson. She is notable as her music is being promoted to both Christian and country radio (by Capitol Christian and Capitol Nashville, respectively). The two-sided promotion between these two genres is still not all that common. While she has not impacted Country Airplay yet, her single “Strong,” hit No. 3 on Christian Airplay and No. 2 on Christian AC. Wilson has earned five top 10s on each of the lists to date.
Queen Is ‘New’ King
At No. 1 on the 2024 year-end Top New Christian Artists ranking is Josiah Queen. He concurrently cracks the top 10 on the overall Top Christian Artists list, coming in at No. 9.
His independently released debut set, The Prodigal, opened atop Top Christian Albums in June. Queen’s rookie single, the album’s title track, reached No. 4 on Hot Christian Songs in May becoming his first top 10. The 21-year-old from Tampa, Fla. initially accumulated traction by posting videos on TikTok, where he has more than 100,000 followers.
Speaking of artists who springboard from social media, Forrest Frank, who was 2023’s Top New Christian Artist, is No. 3 among all acts this year. Frank’s “Good Day” is the No. 2-ranked Hot Christian Songs title of 2024. “Good” reached No. 2 on the weekly version of the list in March, becoming his first of three top 10s. His duet with Connor Price, “Up!”, peaked at No. 8 in April, while “Never Get Used to This,” with JVKE, climbed to No. 6 in August.
Rock and country veterans Van Zant — the duo of brothers Donnie and Johnny Van Zant — make their initial appearance on Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart as the pair’s first spiritually themed LP, Always Look Up, enters the Dec. 7-dated tally at No. 4.
Released Nov. 22, the collection earned 5,000 equivalent album units, almost all from album sales, in the U.S. Nov. 22-28, according to Luminate.
The 12-song set is a mix of classic rock and country that has defined the siblings’ careers, along with Southern gospel.
Donnie Van Zant, 72, co-founded 38 Special in 1974 and was a member until he retired in 2013. The longtime successful touring act logged nine entries on the Billboard 200, including the top 10 Special Forces in 1982. The band banked nine top 40 Billboard Hot 100 hits, led by the top 10s “Caught Up in You” (No. 10, 1982) and “Second Chance” (No. 6, 1989).
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Johnny Van Zant, 64, still tours with Lynyrd Skynyrd, which he has helmed since the loss of older brother Ronnie Van Zant, who, along with five others, was killed in a plane crash in October 1977. Lynyrd Skynyrd was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. The band boasts three Billboard 200 top 10s and the No. 8-peaking 1974 Hot 100 classic “Sweet Home Alabama.” The group followed with fellow signature hit “Free Bird” (No. 19, 1975).
The duo Van Zant has made two appearances on Top Country Albums: Get Right With the Man entered at its No. 2 peak in 2005 and My Kind of Country hit No. 10 in 2007. The twosome’s third entry, Red White & Blue (Live), arrived at its No. 39 high in 2016. On Hot Country Songs, the pair’s “Help Somebody” hit No. 8 in 2005.
Of Van Zant’s rookie Christian LP, Donnie Van Zant stated, “This has been on our bucket list for some time. We’re big believers in Jesus Christ, and with Always Look Up, we’re sharing that faith through our music.”
Adams Unlocks Third No. 1 With ‘Doors’
Yolanda Adams earns her third Gospel Airplay leader with “Church Doors.” The song increased by 4% in plays during the latest tracking week.
The single was authored by Donald Lawrence and Sir the Baptist and is from Adams’ album Sunny Days, which opened at its No. 9 best on Top Gospel Albums in September, awarding Adams her 17th top 10.
Adams’ new Gospel Airplay chart-topper is her second in a row, following “In Him There Is No Sorrow,” her collaboration with Donald Lawrence & Co. and Twinkie Clark that ruled for a week in April. She first led with “Be Blessed” for three weeks in 2005.
Brandon Lake achieves his fourth No. 1 on Billboard’s Christian Airplay chart as “That’s Who I Praise” jumps three spots to the top of the ranking dated Nov. 30.
During the Nov. 15-21 tracking week, the song drew 5.6 million audience impressions, according to Luminate. Over on Christian AC Airplay, it reigns for a second frame. It’s Lake’s fourth chart-topper on each list.
The 34-year-old Lake, from Charleston, S.C., co-authored the single with Steven Furtick, Benjamin William Hastings, Zac Lawson and Micah Nichols, the lattermost of whom also produced it.
“I’m completely blown away. To hear that this song is connecting with so many hearts out there is humbling and just unreal,” Lake tells Billboard. “Keep praising God even when you don’t feel like it. Your worship is a weapon and our God is faithful.”
Lake last led both tallies as featured on Elevation Worship’s “Praise,” also featuring Chris Brown and Chandler Moore, beginning in May. He also scored his first No. 1 on the charts in collaboration with Elevation Worship: “Graves Into Gardens,” in 2021. Lake has also topped the surveys with “Gratitude” beginning in March 2023.
Transformation Worship Makes History
Gospel and Christian music collective Transformation Worship banks its third leader on Top Gospel Albums, as well as its third top 10 on Top Christian Albums, entering at Nos. 1 and 3, respectively, with Undefeated Champions. Released Nov. 15, the set earned 4,000 equivalent album units in its first week.
The Tulsa, Okla.-based act launched in 2010 at the city’s same-named church by lead pastor Michael Todd.
On Top Gospel Albums, Transformation Worship becomes the first worship collective to achieve three No. 1s in a calendar year, as Undefeated Champions follows Dominion, which opened on top in July, and Overflow, which started at the summit in June.
The group boasts a fourth Top Gospel Albums top 10 this year: Thy Kingdom Come debuted at its No. 6 best in October.
Brooks & Dunn, Jelly Roll Chart Remake
Renowned country duo Brooks & Dunn returns to Billboard’s religious charts with an update of “Believe,” which hit No. 6 on Hot Country Songs in 2006. The new version features Jelly Roll, who joined Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn for a performance of the song on the 58th annual Country Music Association Awards (Nov. 20), broadcast live on ABC.
The remake is from Brooks & Dunn’s collaborative LP Reboot II, which debuts at No. 5 on Top Country Albums with 24,000 equivalent album units. It marks the twosome’s 15th top 10 and first since 2019, when Reboot started as the pair’s seventh No. 1.
The new “Believe” bows atop Christian Digital Song Sales with 5,000 sold, while the 2019 original reenters at No. 6. It also debuts at No. 6 on Hot Christian Songs, bolstered further by 1.8 million official streams, marking Brooks & Dunn and Jelly Roll’s first appearance each on the chart.
Caleb & John’s “Somebody Like Me,” featuring CAIN, climbs to No. 1 on Billboard’s Christian Airplay and Christian AC Airplay charts (dated Oct. 5). It leads the former with 5.4 million audience impressions Sept. 20-26, according to Luminate. The duo of Caleb Crino and John Secker earns its first chart-topper with its second entry. “Hallelujah […]
Veteran Christian hard rock group Stryper adds its 13th top 10 on Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart as When We Were Kings enters the list (dated Sept. 28) at No. 2. During its launch week (Sept. 13-19), the set earned 6,000 equivalent album units in the United States, with 5,000 in album sales, according to Luminate.
“We love what we do and the fans love it even more,” Stryper frontman Michael Sweet tells Billboard. “My mentality is to always outdo the last album. Whether we do or not, we’ll go into a project certainly trying our best to do just that. We’re so happy with how Kings turned out, and the Stryper army worldwide seems to agree. We are blessed!”
The new set from the four-piece unit, which formed in 1983 and is based in La Mirada, Calif., follows The Final Battle, which arrived at its No. 3 Top Christian Albums best in November 2022, and Even the Devil Believes, which in September 2020 became the band’s first No. 1. Stryper first reached the chart with The Yellow and Black Attack, which entered in November 1984 and reached No. 10 the following June.
After over 40 years together, three of the four members of Stryper are originals, including brothers Michael and Robert Sweet, along with Oz Fox. The newest rocker in the foursome is Perry Richardson, who replaced Tim Gaines in 2000. Richardson formerly played bass for country artists Trace Adkins and Craig Morgan before joining the faith-based bangers.
Adams’ Sunny Days Shines
Yolanda Adams banks her 17th top 10 on Top Gospel Albums as Sunny Days bursts in at No. 9 (1,000 units).
The set is the Houston native’s first entry on the chart since May 2011, when Becoming started at its No. 3 best. Before that, What a Wonderful Time hit No. 2 in December 2007, after The Best of Me became her fifth No. 1 that May.
When Luminate reported the fastest-growing music genres in the first half of 2024 (through the week of May 30), contemporary Christian music (CCM)/gospel unexpectedly placed in the top five. When analyzing overall consumption — track-equivalent albums, stream-equivalent albums and on-demand audio — the genre grew 8.9%, more than twice the overall industry growth rate of 3.9% for the same period in 2023.
CCM/gospel’s rise is even stronger on Spotify. Representatives for the platform say the genre has grown 30% in the United States and more than 30% globally in the past year. Over the past five years, the genre has grown 50% stateside and 60% globally.
“This past March alone, the Christian and gospel genre had its biggest streaming month on Spotify ever,” says Maritza “Ritz” McCain, Spotify’s senior editor, Christian and gospel.
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McCain also points to CCM/gospel’s global reach, noting that while the United States is the largest market for Christian music, global consumption is expanding in markets that include Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and the Philippines. She also cites promising growth in markets such as India, Indonesia and Germany.
According to Luminate, the top five CCM/gospel acts for 2024’s first half were Elevation Worship, Lauren Daigle, Phil Wickham, Hillsong Worship and Brandon Lake. Elevation Worship’s song “Praise,” featuring Lake, Chris Brown — a different Chris Brown from the “Run It” singer — and Chandler Moore, is the biggest CCM hit of 2024 thus far, having spent 24 weeks atop Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs chart.
Cole Flynn, head of marketing at Elevation Worship Records, attributes “six or seven” different factors that have contributed to the shift. For one, the consumption and promotion of CCM by a new generation of social media-savvy fans on those platforms is attracting new listeners.
“This whole generation has grown up with Spotify and Apple Music, and with the ability to access any kind of music they want to hear at any point in time,” says Leigh Holt of Hsquared Management, which manages Daigle and Riley Clemmons. “The barriers have been broken. There are more people who can say, ‘These are the ways I want to express my faith.’”
According to Luminate Insights, the share of listeners who are millennials and younger grew from 39% of overall genre listenership in 2022 to 45% in 2024. Additionally, the number of hours that CCM/gospel fans spent with music each month increased from 47.9 hours to 56.8 so far in 2024 — a 19% increase.
“Worship music does skew younger, agewise and listenerwise,” Flynn says. “People in their 20s and 30s are listening to Elevation Worship, whereas a typical Christian radio audience might be a little older.” He adds that this evolution has necessitated changes in marketing strategies for Elevation Worship, as it has with other CCM/gospel artists. “We’ve released music a little earlier, teased it out a little earlier, tried to get the music in people’s minds and on their phones earlier and give away a little more of the master content than we would have five years ago.”
Lauren Daigle
Jeremy Cowart
A new crop of young talent — who are also social media natives — includes 29-year-old Forrest Frank, 21-year-old Josiah Queen and 24-year-old Seph Schlueter. Frank’s “Good Day” and Schlueter’s “Counting My Blessings” each reached No. 2 on the Hot Christian Songs chart, with the former making its way into the upper echelons of Spotify’s Viral 50 chart this year. And Queen’s “The Prodigal” was in the top 15 on the Christian Airplay chart. All three are nominees for new artist of the year at the Gospel Music Association’s Dove Awards in October.
Queen’s debut album, also named The Prodigal, and Frank’s Child of God both debuted at No. 1 on the Top Christian Albums chart in July and August, respectively, and the latter ascended to No. 28 on the Billboard 200.
Like artists in other genres, many top sellers in CCM/ gospel make social media key to their marketing plans. Daigle, 32, has over 5 million monthly Spotify listeners, and videos of concert moments, shared on TikTok, earn millions of views. Elevation Worship has over 1.9 million TikTok followers, and one March TikTok post of its hit “Praise” has garnered more than 19 million views. Brandon Lake, 34, who has over 4 million monthly Spotify listeners, has attracted 4.3 million views since posting a TikTok video in July that used his song “That’s Who I Praise.” And Frank racked up over 9 million views with a video that uses his “Good Day.”
“Content is still king,” Holt says. “The artists who are winning are the artists who are the most authentic on social media. Even with Elevation Worship, their content is very ‘man on the street,’ very accessible to everyone. I feel like that has a lot to do with the growth, as well as fans having insight into artists’ lives. Forrest Frank is great on social media, and Josiah Queen is really fun — he kind of teaches a master class a bit on that. They’ve figured out social media in a very organic way.”
Unlike most genres, CCM/gospel is built around a central message rather than a particular sound, allowing for a greater range of musical styles, including the pop of for King & Country and Frank; Queen’s rustic, singer-songwriter style; Tauren Wells’ pop/R&B vibe; and Lecrae’s rap.
“The expansion of what Christian and gospel music sounds like has helped grow the listenership and, in turn, the consumption of the genre,” McCain says. “Artists like Lauren Daigle, NF and Montell Fish started with a Christian listener base and have grown to see success in broader audiences.” She adds that the inclusion of Christian/gospel artists on non-faith-based playlists such as R&B Weekly, Shine and Fresh Folk has also helped to expand the genre’s reach.
Also bolstering CCM/gospel’s presence are a number of recent collaborations with secular artists, including for King & Country with Timbaland, TobyMac with Sheryl Crow, Lecrae with John Legend, Anne Wilson with Lainey Wilson, Zach Williams with Dolly Parton and CeCe Winans with Carrie Underwood.
“It’s way easier to become a fan of one person and transfer that fandom to another, especially with great collaborations,” Holt says. “For King & Country has always kind of led the way in the Christian space, and that really brings different spotlights to the genre.”
As streaming consumption and social media promotion of CCM/gospel music have increased, so has the number of contemporary Christian radio stations in the United States. According to stationratings.com, the number of U.S. stations carrying the contemporary Christian format rose by 22 from July 2023 to July 2024.
Titan Christian radio chains K-LOVE and Air1, which are owned by the non-profit Educational Media Foundation (EMF) have more than 1,000 broadcast signals. So far this year, the company has added more than a dozen signals to its fold.
“We’ve seen direct correlations of [streaming] consumption mirror the amount of audience we’re getting at radio,” Flynn says of Elevation Worship. “At the top of the radio chart, their song ‘Praise’ gets an audience of 10 million a week — that’s a massive difference. Let’s say radio doesn’t drive direct streams, which is an argument these days. It does drive massive awareness. There’s an intangible with church listeners, worship leaders, people putting it in Sunday morning [church services] set lists that exponentially grow that reach beyond radio, but that might have been the first place they heard it. So [radio]’s a huge help for us when we’re trying to get a song out there.”
“The songs coming out of our community continue to impact our audience, not only across all digital platforms but on terrestrial radio to over 30 million weekly listeners,” Gospel Music Association president Jackie Patillo said in a statement provided to Billboard. “People are hungry for a message that encourages and inspires.”
Growth in streaming, social media and radio reach ultimately impact artists’ touring. Elevation Worship sold out its spring Elevation Nights ’24 Tour before it began, averaging 11,600 tickets sold each night. Meanwhile, Holt says Daigle’s Kaleidoscope Tour has also seen growth in ticket sales.
“It’s a very different market now for ticket buying, post-pandemic, with multiple tours out. There’s a lot of competition,” Holt says. “But our ticket sales have grown this year, and we are back to our pre-pandemic numbers, which has been exciting to see.”
Elevation Worship’s “Praise,” featuring Brandon Lake, Chris Brown and Chandler Moore, reaches a milestone 25th week at No. 1 on Billboard’s streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Christian Songs survey (dated Aug. 31).
“Praise,” co-penned by Elevation Worship frontman Brown with Lake and Moore, as well as Pat Barrett, Cody Carnes and Steven Furtick, becomes just the sixth title to have dominated Hot Christian Songs for 25 frames or more over the survey’s 21-year history.
When “Praise” initially topped Hot Christian Songs in March, Brown told Billboard, “We’re blown away by what God has done with ‘Praise,’ and we’re thankful for everyone who has streamed, tuned in and shared the song. We hope it is a great reminder of all the reasons to praise God not just for what He’s done, but for who He is.”
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“Praise” drew 13.8 million airplay audience impressions and 3.4 million official U.S. streams and sold 1,000 Aug.16-22, according to Luminate.
Here’s a look at the longest-leading Hot Christian Songs No. 1s:
132 weeks, “You Say,” Lauren Daigle, beginning in July 2018
61 weeks, “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail),” Hillsong United, beginning in June 2013
37 weeks, “What a Beautiful Name,” Hillsong Worship, beginning in February 2017
28 weeks, weeks, “Gratitude,” Brandon Lake, beginning in February 2023
26 weeks, “Something in the Water,” Carrie Underwood, beginning in October 2014
25 weeks (to date), “Praise,” Elevation Worship, Brandon Lake, Chris Brown, Chandler Moore, beginning in July 2024
Dillard Has a ‘Hold On’ Radio
Singer-songwriter Ricky Dillard scores his fourth Gospel Airplay No. 1 with “Hold On.” The song advanced by 10% in plays during the tracking week.
“Hold On,” which Dillard wrote with Duane C. Shipley and produced with Zeke Listenbee and Quadrius Salters, is his third straight No. 1, after “All of My Help” led for a week in July 2022 and “Release,” featuring Tiff Joy, ruled for a week in August 2020.
Dillard, and his choir, New G, first commanded Gospel Airplay with “Amazing Light,” for 30 weeks starting in July 2014, the chart’s second-longest command, after Marvin Sapp’s “Never Would Have Made It” (46 weeks starting in August 2007).