Christian/Gospel
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Gospel music luminaries David and Tamela Mann, as well as Dr. Bobby Jones will be honored during the upcoming 22nd annual Trailblazers of Gospel Music Awards on March 30.
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The event, to be held at Flourish Atlanta, will be hosted by BMI president/CEO Mike O’Neill and BMI vice president, Creative Catherine Brewton.
“BMI is thrilled to be back in Atlanta celebrating the best in Gospel music,” said Brewton via a statement. “We’re extremely proud to honor powerhouse couple Tamela and David Mann for their incredible contributions to the Gospel community, the enduring legacy of Dr. Bobby Jones and the songwriters and publishers behind the top Gospel songs of the previous year. Through song and praise, they deliver inspirational messages of hope, faith and goodwill to music lovers around the world. We feel truly blessed to bring these trailblazers together in fellowship and celebrate their creative works.”
In the 1990s, Tamela and David toured the world as part of the gospel group Kirk Franklin and the Family, before launching solo careers and joint ventures, creating Tillymann Entertainment in 2005 as a base for their various entertainment projects. In 2018, they released Us Against the World, their first collaborative album as a duo. A companion book to the album earned the couple a NAACP Image Award for outstanding literary work, while the album launched the hit “Ups & Downs.” The Manns also launched the Overcomer Family Tour, with their son David Jr. and their daughters La’Tia and Tiffany.
Beyond music, the Manns have appeared in several Tyler Perry plays, films and movies, and starred in their own sitcom, Mann & Wife, and the docuseries It’s a Mann’s World. As a solo artist, Tamela has issued six studio albums and earned a Grammy, BET Award, Billboard Music Award and multiple NAACP, GMA Dove and Stellar Gospel Music awards.
Singer, television host and radio broadcaster Jones will be honored for his more than four decades in entertainment. For more than 35 years, he served as the host of Bobby Jones Gospel on BET, and is credited with giving artists including Yolanda Adams, Kirk Franklin and Mary Mary their first national television exposure. In 1984, Jones earned a Grammy for best soul gospel performance by a duo or group for “I’m So Glad I’m Standing Here Today” with Barbara Mandrell. He has also received recognition from the GMA Dove Awards, and the Stellar Awards, and was inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame earlier this year.
Throughout the ceremony, BMI will also recognize the songwriters, producers and music publishers of the past year’s 25 most performed gospel songs in the United States. The BMI gospel song, songwriter and publisher of the year will also be named during the event.
Singer-songwriter Brandon Lake scores his second No. 1, and first as a lead artist, on Billboard’s streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Christian Songs chart (dated Feb. 4) with “Gratitude.”
The single rebounds for a third week atop Christian Digital Song Sales, up 7% to 2,000 downloads sold Jan. 20-26, according to Luminate. It also drew 1.9 million official U.S streams. On Christian Airplay, the song pushes 13-11 for a new best (4.9 million audience impressions, up 24%).
Lake co-authored “Gratitude” with Dante Bowe and Benjamin Hastings, while Jacob Sooter produced it.
“Every song has a season, and season a song,” Lake tells Billboard. “’Gratitude’ couldn’t more accurately describe everything I want to express to God in this time. There are times where I feel like worshipping and there are times I often don’t, but what can shift any weary soul is a spirit of gratitude. I love that this song not only expresses a heartfelt ‘thank you,’ but commands your soul to wake up and worship. The journey of how this song came to be is a miracle in itself that I’m thankful for.”
Lake previously topped Hot Christian Songs as featured on Elevation Worship’s “Graves Into Gardens,” for two frames in February 2021. It also paced Christian Airplay for a week, awarding Lake his lone leader so far.
Concurrently, Lake charts two additional tracks on Hot Christian Songs. He’s featured on Ryan Ellis’ “Son of David,” at No. 25, and his duet with KB, “Graves,” at No. 44.
Tribbett’s ‘New’ No. 1
On Gospel Airplay, Tye Tribbett notches his fourth No. 1 and third in succession with “New,” which he wrote solely.
The song follows ‘’Anyhow,” which dominated for two weeks in June 2021, and “We Gon’ Be Alright,” which led for a week in September 2020. Tribbett, who hails from Camden, N.J., notched his first leader, among nine top 10s, with “Victory” (with backing group G.A.), which reigned for three weeks beginning in September 2006.
MercyMe Extends Record
MercyMe rolls up its record-padding 19th No. 1 on Billboard’s Christian AC Airplay survey with “Then Christ Came” (up 3% in plays).
The format cornerstone act last led with “Almost Home,” for three frames in April 2020. In between that song and “Then,” the group’s “Say I Won’t” reached No. 3 in May 2021 and “On Our Way,” featuring Sam Wesley, hit No. 9 in February 2022.
MercyMe widens its lead for the most No. 1s since Christian AC Airplay began in 2003 over Jeremy Camp and Casting Crowns, each with 13.
MercyMe banked its first leader with “Word of God Speak,” which dominated for 21 weeks starting in August 2003. It’s the longest-leading No. 1 in the chart’s history, followed by the band’s own “Even If,” which ruled for 19 weeks starting in May 2017.
Elevation Worship earns its second No. 1 on Billboard’s streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Christian Songs chart and its third leader on Christian Airplay as “Same God” ascends to the top of both lists dated Jan. 21.
The song increased by 10% to 8 million audience impressions among Christian Airplay reporters in the Jan. 6-12 tracking week, according to Luminate. It also drew 1.5 million U.S. streams and sold 1,000 downloads.
The Charlotte, N.C.-based collective previously ruled Christian Airplay with “Rattle!” for a week in September 2021 (as it also hit No. 4 on Hot Christian Songs), and “Graves Into Gardens,” featuring Brandon Lake. The latter also topped both charts at once, on the tallies dated Feb. 6, 2021. It dominated Hot Christian Songs for two frames, while pacing Christian Airplay for a week.
Elevation Worship now sports two of the three select instances in which a track has dominated both charts simultaneously. Prior to “Same God” and “Gardens,” Mandisa first achieved the feat in September 2013 when “Overcomer” spent its first of 10 weeks atop Hot Christian Songs and its first of 12 frames in the Christian Airplay penthouse.
Notably, the act has released a studio version and a live version of “Same God,” the latter of which credits Jonsal Barrientes, a member of the group, in a featured role. Chris Brown, Elevation Worship frontman, sings lead vocals on the studio mix. (Both renditions contribute to the song’s singular chart listing.)
Brown co-wrote the track with Pat Barrett, Steven Furtick and Brandon Lake.
An aunt and an ally. Amy Grant shut down trolls criticizing her decision to host her LGBTQ+ niece’s wedding on Monday (Jan. 16).
“I never chase any of those rabbits down the rabbit hole,” the Christian pop singer said to People of outcry from homophobic critics on social media. “I love my family, I love those brides. They’re wonderful, our family is better, and you should be able to be who you are with your family, and be loved by them.”
Grant also revealed that her niece’s nuptials took place at the very same place she and Vince Gill were married back in 2000. “I own a farm that I bought back in the ’90s and they were just looking for a beautiful place to get married,” she said. “So, she and Sam got married on the same hillside where Vince and I got married.”
“Honestly, from a faith perspective, I do always say, ‘Jesus, you just narrowed it down to two things: love God and love each other,’” Grant added in a Washington Post interview back in November to explain her perspective on balancing her well-documented faith with her support of the LGBTQ+ community. “I mean, hey — that’s pretty simple.”
This weekend, Grant — who received Kennedy Center Honors in 2022 — opened the long-awaited Los Angeles concert honoring A&M Records co-founder Jerry Moss, performing her now-classic 1991 ballad “I Will Remember You” before Peter Frampton, Rita Coolidge, David Foster, Herb Alpert, Dionne Warwick and Sting each took the stage.
“That was a wild 36 hours in Santa Barbara,” singer-songwriter and Contemporary Christian Music hitmaker Blessing Offor tells Billboard, recalling how a meeting with five-time Grammy winner Jon Batiste in November 2022 at the Google Zeitgeist Conference led to an impromptu writing session.
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“It felt like meeting an old friend kind of thing, just immediately cool,” Offor says. “He asked what we were doing that afternoon, and if we wanted to do a session in L.A. My flight was supposed to leave that afternoon, but I was like, ‘Absolutely.’ I immediately called my travel guy and was like, ‘Do whatever you have to do to move my flight,’” he says, laughing. “It was just a great creative synergy. I’m not sure what will come of it, but I would love to collaborate again.”
Collaboration has played a key role in Offor’s career to date.
Offor, who earned a GMA Dove Awards nomination for new artist of the year in 2022, also registered a three-week No. 1 Christian Airplay hit in 2022 with his TobyMac collaboration “The Goodness” and has been featured on albums from Chris Tomlin and Lee Brice. He’s also co-written songs with Dallas Davidson, Breland, Tyler Hubbard and Corey Crowder, among others. Offor’s own “Brighter Days,” the title track from his February 2022 EP, peaked at No. 2 on Christian Airplay.
On Friday, the Nigerian-born, Connecticut-raised artist will release his new full-length set, My Tribe, on Bowyer & Bow/Capitol CMG.
Offor, who co-wrote 14 of My Tribe’s 16 tracks, begins the album with a spoken-word intro that thanks his family still living in Nigeria for their support. Later in the album, he includes “What a World (Akwa Uwa),” which incorporates a song he learned as a child.
“Towards the end of the album-making process, we had all the tracks done, but it felt like something was missing,” Offor says. “What was missing was a little fingerprint of Nigeria, of my own journey. When I said I wanted to put that on my record, my team was very supportive, though I think we joked about how hard it would be to find whoever owns publishing on a song recorded in Nigeria in the ‘70s.”
Offor was surprised by the success of “Brighter Days,” which he also includes on his new full-length project.
“We didn’t send ‘Brighter Days’ to radio thinking we have a massive song on our hands, because it doesn’t even say ‘Jesus,’” Offor says. “In this industry, it’s easier to market things that are crystal clear, I guess. I’ve gotten many a Facebook message, Instagram message from people asking, ‘How dare you call yourself a Christian artist? You didn’t say “Jesus” one time in this song.’ It’s been super interesting. I’m a theological nerd, so could I argue about it? Yes. But is it worth it? No, probably not. But because it didn’t fit neatly in one particular box, it’s gotten to a lot of places in the world where most songs that fit so tightly into that box probably don’t get.”
Alongside uptempo, retro-pop bops like “Feel Good” and “My Tribe” are soulful piano ballads like “Grace” and “Won’t Be Long Now,” which Offor calls “a mantra.”
“I love songs like that, that massive groups can sing, songs that we need to get through specific moments — songs like, ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy,’” he says of “Won’t Be Long Now,” which he wrote with Hank Bentley and Jessie Early. “During the ‘60s, in the Civil Rights movement, people would say, ‘How long?’ and the answer was ‘Not long.’ That didn’t mean literally two seconds from right now, but the fact that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. The song is just a mantra to hold on through whatever someone might be going through.”
A Journey From Nigeria to Nashville
The album is filled with a blend of pop and soul and a constant uplifting message flowing throughout it — a testament to his own hard-fought journey.
Offor, who is legally blind, immigrated to the United States from Nigeria at age 6. He was born with glaucoma resulting in almost complete blindness in his left eye. and his parents sent him to live with his uncle in America to receive treatment. Then at age 11, a water gun accident damaged his retina, taking the sight from his right eye.
Growing up in Connecticut, Offor, the youngest of six siblings, listened to a range of music, including pop, Motown and jazz, and began playing piano at age 9. Still, he says it took commitment and passion to stick with his unconventional career path in music, especially when his family expected him to take a more professional path.
“For me, to be a singer-songwriter was not cool, you know? My uncle has a law firm and for me, going to law school would have been a glide path and then I could be a lawyer and that would really be the immigrant dream there,” he says. “Nobody would have been mad if I quit to do some white-collar career, but I didn’t give myself permission to quit.”
He attended Nashville’s Belmont University and then spent five years in New York’s eclectic music scene around 2011, “just writing music and meeting people, working with the Snarky Puppy guys before they became Snarky Puppy,” he says. He made his way to Los Angeles and was briefly a contestant on The Voice, before returning to Nashville in 2015, where he continued to showcase for labels and write songs.
After writing a song titled “Tin Roof” with Natalie Hemby, Offor saw the song recorded by a few artists and hoped it would lead to a publishing deal. The song did more than that — soon after, CCM luminary Chris Tomlin heard the song and recorded it for his 2020 Chris Tomlin & Friends album, featuring Offor’s vocals on the recording. Offor also signed a recording deal with CCM luminary Chris Tomlin’s Bowyer & Bow imprint, in partnership with Universal’s Capitol Christian Music Group.
“After the song came out, there was the conversation of a longer-term relationship with Chris and Capitol CMG. I said, ‘You know being a worship leader is not my goal, per se. I’m a Christian who is an artist, but I always write music my own way.’ Chris said, ‘All you have to do is be yourself,’ and I said, ‘Well, I can do that.’ [Capitol CMG co-president] Brad O’Donnell and all the guys at Capitol felt there can be a place for my music in the faith market, but also in the faith-adjacent markets and mainstream markets. And so far, it’s been as good as it sounded from the beginning, which is a really rare thing.”
For Offor, finding his label home meant heeding the advice he was once given by a Nashville music executive.
“It’s funny because I would do showcases in Los Angeles and they would be like, ‘Cool, you can be the next John Legend.’ But John Legend’s still doing his thing; we don’t need a next John Legend. I’d showcase for country labels and it’s like, ‘OK, we can do a soul-country thing,’ so there was always this idea of doing a hybrid.” Former Universal Music exec Joe Fisher gave advice that resonated with Offor: “He gave me the example of Chris Stapleton — when he first came to town, he was too soulful for country and too blues for soul. Joe said, ‘You want to get a deal where people are comfortable letting you find who you are. It might take a minute, but once you build your own genre, no one can kick you out of it.’”
Francesca Battistelli scores her sixth No. 1 on Billboard’s Christian Airplay chart as her holiday single “Carolin’” jingles to the top of the Dec. 31-dated tally.
The song increased by 4% to 1.7 million audience impressions Dec. 16-22, according to Luminate. (As previously reported, this week marks a switch to a Friday-through-Thursday tracking schedule for Billboard’s individual-format airplay charts.)
Battistelli, who is based in Columbia, Tenn., co-penned “Carolin’” with Mia Fields and Seth Mosley.
“What a fun Christmas present to hear that ‘Carolin’’ is connecting with people like this,” Battistelli told Billboard after hearing the news of her latest coronation. “It’s a special song for me for several reasons. I wrote it with two of my favorite writer friends; singing carols is one of my favorite things about Christmas; and, last but certainly not least, my sweet daughter Audrey sang background vocals with me on it! I am humbled and honored that this song is being enjoyed by so many people.”
Battistelli tops Christian Airplay for the first time since “Messiah” led for a week in January 2018. In between that leader and “Carolin’” (her 13th top 10 as well as her sixth No. 1), her “The Breakup Song” hit No. 9 in November 2018, followed by “Defender” (No. 12, November 2019), “This Could Change Everything” (No. 25, August 2020), “Behold Him” (No. 12, December 2020), “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (No. 36, last holiday season) and “God Is Good” (No. 25, this March).
Battistelli first reached Christian Airplay with “I’m Letting Go,” which rose to No. 3 in July 2008. She first led the list with “Free to Be Me” for four weeks in April-May 2009.
For King & Country, the duo of siblings Joel and Luke Smallbone, notches its 12th No. 1 on Billboard‘s Christian Airplay chart (dated Dec. 24), as the pair’s version of “Joy to the World” dashes from No. 7 to the summit.
In the tracking week ending Dec. 18, “Joy” drew 1.8 million audience impressions among the chart’s panel of reporters, according to Luminate.
Here’s a recap of For King & Country’s nine Christian Airplay No. 1s: “Joy to the World” (for one week, to-date); “For God Is With Us” (three weeks, July); “Relate” (three, beginning in December 2021); “Amen” (one, July 2021); “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” featuring NEEDTOBREATHE (two, starting in December 2020); “Together,” with Kirk Franklin and Tori Kelly (five, beginning in August 2020); “Burn the Ships” (five, starting in January 2020); “God Only Knows” (10, beginning in April 2019); “joy.” (four, starting in August 2018); “Priceless” (three, October 2016); “Shoulders” (two, June 2015); and “Fix My Eyes” (one, September 2014).
Meanwhile, For King & Country’s current non-seasonal single, “Love Me Like I Am” with Jordin Sparks, also resides in the Christian Airplay top 10 — at No. 9 (1.3 million) — after reaching No. 6 the past two weeks.
With 12 Christian Airplay No. 1s, For King & Country ties Jeremy Camp and Matthew West for the second-most leaders since the chart launched in 2003. MercyMe leads all acts with 17 No. 1s.
“Joy to the World” concurrently becomes For King & Country’s milestone 20th top 10 on the multi-metric Hot Christian Songs chart, where it vaults 28-9. The act is the eighth to have notched at least 20 top 10s, with Casting Crowns, MercyMe and Chris Tomlin sharing the record with 29 each.
Colton Dixon tops Billboard‘s Christian Airplay chart for his first time, as “Build Me a Boat” lifts to No. 1 on the Nov. 19-dated ranking. In the tracking week ending Nov. 13, the single increased by 3% to 6.8 million audience impressions, according to Luminate.
Dixon co-wrote “Boat” with Pete Becker, Mikey Gormley, Johan Linbrandt and Seth Mosley, and the latter three produced it with Sandro Cavazza. “Absolutely stunned at the support,” Dixon tells Billboard. “Thank you to everyone at radio for making this my first-ever Christian Airplay No. 1 single! Grateful would be an understatement, but it seems to be the word I keep coming back to over these last few months. Thank you all so much.”
The 31-year-old Murfreesboro, Tenn., native previously banked four Christian Airplay top 10s. “You Are,” his maiden entry, reached No. 10 in April 2013, followed by “More of You” (No. 5, November 2014); “Through All of It” (No. 6, September 2015); and “Miracles” (No. 5, December 2020).
Concurrently, “Boat” leads the streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Christian Songs chart and Christian AC Airplay for a third fame each, after first topping the Nov. 5 tallies. The song drew 1.6 million streams (up 28%) and sold 1,000 downloads (up 17%) Nov. 4-10. On Christian Streaming Songs, it rises 12-6, awarding Dixon his first top 10.
Jokia Reigns Again
Jokia scores her second straight career-opening No. 1 on Gospel Airplay with “Let Him In” (up 18% in plays). The 23-year-old (full name Jokia Williams), from Killeen, Texas, wrote the song solo and self-released it.
Jokia broke through with “Yahweh,” which led for a week in April 2021. She is now within one of DOE’s mark as the female artist with the most career-opening Gospel Airplay leaders. DOE (aka Dominique Jones) added her third No. 1 with “When I Pray,” which led for two frames starting in September.
MercyMe banks its 12th No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Christian Albums survey as its new studio album, Always Only Jesus, blasts in atop the chart dated Nov. 5.
The 10-song set released on Oct. 21 earned 9,000 equivalent album units with 7,000 in sales during the tracking week ending Oct. 27 according to Luminate.
On Top Christian Albums Always Only Jesus follows Inhale (Exhale) which entered at No. 3 in May 2021 with 11,000 units, granting the group with its 14th of 15 career top 10s.
Prior to Inhale, I Can Only Imagine: The Very Best of Mercy Me opened at No. 3 in March 2018 then hit No. 1 in its second week, dominating for 19 frames. That set included two versions of “I Can Only Imagine,” the 1999 original and 2018’s “I Can Only Imagine (The Movie Session).”
The LP was released in conjunction with the movie I Can Only Imagine which starred J. Michael Finley as MercyMe frontman Bart Millard with Dennis Quaid as his father. The film chronicled the story of the band from its inception in the mid 1990s.
MercyMe’s run of 12 leaders began in 2001 with its first entry Almost There which debuted at No. 12 prior to its nine-week reign beginning in August 2003.
With a dozen No. 1s on Top Christian Albums MercyMe has the most of all duos and groups with Passion second (nine); then Casting Crowns and Hillsong United are next with eight leaders each. Currently on tour, MercyMe’s next stop will be at Boston’s Wang Theatre on Nov. 4.
STRYPER’S ‘FINAL BATTLE’
Also on Top Christian Albums the iconic Christian hard rock outfit Stryper’s new LP The Final Battle rockets onto the tally at No. 3. It earned 7,000 units in its first week and 6,000 in sales.
Stryper first reached Top Christian Albums with The Yellow and Black Attack which debuted in November 1984 and reached No. 10 the following June, marking the foursome’s first of 12 top 10s.
Battle, which sports 11 songs, follows the group’s first No. 1, Even the Devil Believes, which started atop the ranking with 10,000 units in September 2020.
The California based Stryper is fronted by founding member Michael Sweet (lead vocals, guitar); his brother Robert Sweet (drums); Oz Fox (guitar, vocals); and Perry Richardson (bass, vocals).
Singer-songwriter Colton Dixon scores his first No. 1 on Billboard’s streaming-, airplay and sales based Hot Christian Songs survey as well as Christian AC Airplay (both charts dated Nov. 5).
The 31-year-old Murfreesboro, Tenn. native’s latest single “Build a Boat” ascends 2-1 on both lists. The song hits the Hot Christian Songs summit as it drew 1.2 million U.S. streams and sold 1,000 downloads in the Oct. 21-27 tracking week, according to Luminate.
“Boat” rebounds 2-1 on Christian Digital Song Sales for a sixth frame at No. 1 after first reaching the apex on Sept. 17, becoming his third leader.
On Christian Airplay “Boat” floats 4-2 for a new best. It increased by less than 1% to 6.6 million impressions in the week ending Oct. 30. On Christian AC Airplay the single climbs 2-1 with a 3% increase in plays. Dixon earns his first No. 1 on both Hot Christian Songs and Christian AC Airplay. It’s his 14th Hot Christian Songs entry which includes two additional top 10s. His first appearance “You Are” reached No. 10 in 2013 and 2014’s “More of You” hit No. 9 that September. On Christian AC Airplay “Boat” follows “Miracles” which reached No. 8 in October 2020, giving Dixon his third of four top 10s.
“Boat” was co-written by Dixon, Pete Becker, Mikey Gormley, Johan Linbrandt and Seth Mosley.
“To anyone who had anything to do with this song, thank you,” Dixon tells Billboard. “Even more than having my No. 1 across these formats, I’m so grateful that so many people have applied the meaning of this song to their own story. Faith looks crazy sometimes, but the reward waiting on the other side far outweighs the sacrifice.”
Dixon, who competed during season 11 of American Idol in 2012, performed “Build a Boat” during his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry on Oct. 24.