Popular Christian Artists and Bands

Over the past few decades contemporary Christian music has risen to become the most popular form of music played in church services and has become a multi-billion dollar global industry. There are dozens of different genres of contemporary Christian music ranging from hip hop through to reggae. In this guide we shall look at some of the most popular Christian artists and bands today.

Casting Crowns

The Casting Crowns are a Grammy- award and Dove award winning Christian band that has hugely influenced the world of Christian music. Their style is soft rock and the band was created in 1999 in Daytona Beach, Florida as part of a youth group.

The group is led by pastor Mark Hall who is now the lead vocalist. Some other members of the band also work as ministers at the Eagles Landing First Baptist Church in Georgia.

Since they began they have seen worldwide success with five studio albums and three live albums under their belt. Four of their studio albums reached a number one chart position on the Christian Albums chart and their Altar and the Door album reached number 2 on the Billboard 200 Album chart.

Their single releases have also been very successful, with six number one singles on the Christian Songs chart out of the ten that they have released so far.

Their debut self-titled album spent 104 weeks on the Top Christian Albums chart.

Natalie Grant

Another very popular Christian artist is Natalie Grant. She is both a singer and songwriter who has won four consecutive Dove awards for best female artist as well as for her best loved song ‘Held’.

She has also been awarded the Female Vocalist of the Year award by the Gospel Music Association in 2006 – 2009.

She has released 7 albums since her self-titled debut release in 1999 and is currently touring the USA.

MercyMe

MercyMe are a very successful contemporary Christian band that was founded in Greenville, Texas in 1994. Since then the band have released six albums independently before signing with INO Records in 2001.

Their first big break was with the popular song, ‘I Can Only Imagine’ which then lead their album to gain double platinum status. Since then they have released five studio albums and a greatest hits album.

MercyMe have been involved in numerous charities and they have raise thousands of dollars for a variety of causes including for the Go Foundation that helps serious ill children.

They have had seven number one ranking single releases on the U.S. Christian music charts as well as winning numerous awards in recognition of their success such as Song of the Year and Artist of the Year.

Third Day

Third Day is a contemporary Christian rock band that was formed in Georgia in the early 1990’s. The band’s name is a reference to the rising of Jesus from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion.

So far they have released 14 studio and live albums as well as three EP’s. Several of these albums have reached platinum and gold status for the number of record sales.

They have released five music videos to accompany single releases, and their most popular song would arguably be Cry Out To Jesus, a beautiful Christian song released in 2006.

David Crowder Band

The final popular Christian artist we shall look at today is David Crowder Band. Their style is a Christian electronic rock and worship band.

They first formed in Texarkana, Texas and since then have released 9 albums – including one live album. They have also released 5 EP’s.

Since they began they have won a wide range of awards in recognition of their success including MSN Artist of the Month, Worship Album of the Year (for Remedy), Group of the Year, Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year and many more.

David Crowder (founder of the band) has also written two books that have sold very well – Praise Habit: Finding God in Sunsets and Sushi; and Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven, but Nobody Wants to Die – co-written with Mike Hogan.