| MercyMe | |
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Bart Millard and drummer Robby Shaffer on the WinterJam Tour 2008 in Greenville, South Carolina |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Greenville, Texas |
| Genres | CCM Christian rock Contemporary worship |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Labels | Fair Trade (2011-present) INO (2000-2011) |
| Website | http://www.mercyme.org/ |
| Members | |
| Bart Millard Nathan Cochran Michael John Scheuchzer Robin Shaffer James Bryson Barry Graul |
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MercyMe is an American Christian rock band founded in Greenville, Texas. The band consists of vocalist Bart Millard, keyboardist James Bryson, percussionist Robby Shaffer, bassist Nathan Cochran and guitarists Michael Scheuchzer and Barry Graul.
The band formed in 1994 and released six independent albums prior to signing with INO Records in 2001.[1] The group first gained mainstream recognition with the crossover single, "I Can Only Imagine" which elevated their debut album, Almost There, to double platinum certification. Since then, the group has released six additional studio albums (four of which have been certified gold) and a greatest hits album, 10. The group has also had 13 consecutive top 5 singles on the Billboard Christian Songs chart, with 7 of them reaching no. 1. MercyMe has won 8 Dove Awards and has had numerous Grammy Award nominations.
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Born into a family as the son of Southern Methodist University All-American player Arthur Millard [2] and the brother of a football player,[3] MercyMe's lead singer, Bart Millard wanted to become a football player, yet his football career ended when he injured his ankles in a high school football game.[2] As a result of his injury, Millard took choir as an elective.[3] During his freshmen year in college, Bart had to endure the death of his father.[3] His youth pastor, who had moved from Texas to Florida, invited Bart to work with his youth group’s worship band.[3] Millard accepted his invitation and went on to work on the video and sound systems for the group.[4] On a day when the band’s lead singer got stuck on stage, Bart took the challenge of singing for the group.[4] James (Jim) Bryson played piano for that band and later went on to play with Bart Millard and the worship band on a trip to Switzerland.[4] This trip became the cause of Millard and Bryson’s consideration of playing music full-time. Millard and his friend, guitarist Mike Scheuchzer, moved to Oklahoma City to form MercyMe with Bryson. The trio set up a studio and a “living area” in an old abandoned day-care center.[4] Bassist Nathan Cochran and Drummer Robby Shaffer joined the band later on, accompanying the band on releasing six independent projects before signing with INO Records in 2001. Unlike their first three major label albums, their earlier indie projects tended to orient more towards rock rhythms.[5] The group’s name, “MercyMe”, originated during Bart’s time as a youth ministry intern in Florida. Concerned that her grandson was home whenever she called, Bart’s grandmother would exclaim, “Well mercy me, why don’t you get a real job?”[6][7]
After signing with INO Records, the band released its first major debut album, Almost There. The single "I Can Only Imagine" earned the band a Dove Award in 2002 for song of the year; however, it was not until three years after its release before the song began to gain mainstream success,[4] topping the Billboard 200 sales chart for 7 weeks,[8] and peaking at no. 71 on the Hot 100, 33 on the Mainstream Top 40, 27 on the Adult Top 40, 5 on the Adult Contemporary, and 52 on the Country Songs charts. The success of the single ultimately propelled Almost There to being certified double platinum, representing sales of over 2 million albums, as well as the single itself being certified platinum.
In 2002, MercyMe released their sophomore release, Spoken For, which peaked at no. 2 on the Christian Albums chart. The album’s two singles, “Spoken For” and “Word of God Speak” went on to peak at #1 hits on Christian radio charts, with Word of God Speak spending a record 22 weeks atop the newly-created Billboard Christian Songs chart.[8] The album was eventually certified gold by the RIAA.[9]
Spoken For earned the band three Dove Awards, but was to a certain extent overlooked by the attention that “I Can Only Imagine” was receiving in the mainstream markets at the time.
In 2003, guitarist Barry Graul, who had previously been with the Christian hard rock band Whitecross, joined MercyMe,[10] giving MercyMe a second guitarist with which to work with on their third studio album, Undone.[10] In 2004, the band headlined the “Imagine Tour” with fellow artists Amy Grant and Bebo Norman.[8] In addition to headlining the "Imagine Tour", MercyMe released their third major label album, Undone, which peaked at no. 12 on the Billboard 200 and no. 1 on the Christian Albums charts, their highest debut on the Billboard 200 at that point. The album spawned three successful singles - "Here With Me" (which topped the Christian Songs chart as well as reaching no. 12 on the Adult Contemporary chart and no. 38 on the Adult Top 40 chart), "Homesick" (which reached no. 3 on the Christian Songs chart and no. 9 on the Adult Contemporary charts), and "In the Blink of an Eye"(which topped the Christian Songs chart). The album itself won a Dove Award for Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year at the 36th GMA Dove Awards, and was certified gold by the RIAA.
MercyMe also released a live video album, "MercyMe Live", in 2004, which eventually was certified platinum by the RIAA.
In 2005, MercyMe launched a tour with Jeremy Camp, The Afters and Monk and Neagle in support of their album, Undone.[11]
After releasing Undone in 2004, the band took a time to rest before releasing their next big release, so the band, seeing an opportunity, decided to work on a Christmas record.[12] "The Christmas Sessions" was recorded and ended up being released on September 27, 2005. "The Christmas Sessions" spawned 7 songs which hit the top 40 on the Christian Songs chart (with one hitting #1 and two others reaching the top ten), and four of these charted in the top 40 of the Adult Contemporary chart (with one peaking in the top 10). The album itself peaked at no. 64 on the Billboard 200 and no. 3 on the Christian Songs chart.
To promote "The Christmas Sessions", MercyMe had a Christmas tour with Steven Curtis Chapman, who also released a Christmas album that year titled All I Really Want for Christmas.
In 2006, MercyMe released Coming Up To Breathe, which charted at no. 13 on the Billboard 200 and no. 1 on the Christian Albums chart.[13][14] Although the band had earned a reputation for being an adult contemporary group with their other albums, the group decided to make Coming Up To Breathe a more rock-oriented album, in the vein of their earlier grunge-influenced albums.[15] As such, it also peaked at no, 5 on the Top Rock Albums chart and no. 13 on the Top Alternative Albums chart, their only chart appearances on these records to date.
"Coming Up To Breathe" spawned three radio singles ("So Long Self", "Hold Fast", and "Bring the Rain"), two of which ("So Long Self" and "Bring The Rain") reached the top spot on the Christian Songs chart. "So Long Self" and "Hold Fast" also both reached the top 30 on the Adult Contemporary chart. "Coming Up To Breathe" was eventually certified gold by the RIAA.
In support of "Coming Up To Breathe", MercyMe headlined the “Coming Up To Breathe Tour”, along with Audio Adrenaline (on its farewell tour) and Phil Wickham, seeing half their shows sell out two weeks into the tour.[16]
On November 20, 2007, MercyMe released All That Is Within Me. Millard, the band’s lead singer, had believed that All That is Within Me was going to be a worship album with half of the songs being cover songs and the other half original songs; however, when the band got in studio, they ended up having written all the songs found in this album.[17]
Upon release, the album peaked at no. 15 on the Billboard 200 and no. 1 on the Christian Songs chart. The album contained three singles (“God With Us”, “You Reign” and “Finally Home”), all of which reached the top 3 on the Christian Songs chart; "Finally Home" also peaked at no. 17 on the Adult Contemporary chart (their last appearance on the chart to date). "All That Is Within Me" was also certified gold by the RIAA.
In 2008, the band released Coming Up To Breathe: Acoustic, an acoustic version of their earlier release "Coming Up To Breathe".
On April 7, 2009, MercyMe released their first greatest hits compilation, 10,[18] a double album consisting of 15 studio recordings (12 of which were previously singles and 3 of which were new recordings) and 11 live or concept videos, as well as several documentaries on the band. The album charted at no. 18 on the Billboard 200 and no. 1 on the Christian Songs chart, although no singles were released from the album.
MercyMe's seventh studio album, "The Generous Mr. Lovewell", was released on May 4, 2010. The album itself peaked at no. 3 on the Billboard 200 (MercyMe's highest debut to date and first top 5 album ever on the chart) and no. 1 on the Christian Albums chart. The album (a concept album relating around the overall theme of love and vaguely relating to it's self-titled character) has also spawned three singles - "All of Creation", "Beautiful", and "Move", all of which reached the top spot on the Christian Songs chart.
Upon wrapping up “The Generous Mr. Lovewell” tour, MercyMe was asked to perform the national anthem at a Dallas Cowboys game.[19]
MercyMe is currently working on a new album, "The Worship Sessions", a worship album to be released exclusively at Family Christian Book Stores.
Since they have released "The Worship Sessions", They announced through their website on September 1, 2011 that they are working on a new studio album.
In 2005, MercyMe participated in a benefit concert at Belmont University with various other country, gospel and contemporary Christian artists for the people affected by the Asian Tsunami.[20]
In 2009, MercyMe conducted tour in partnership with Compassion International and Imagine A Cure in order to raise money to help kids with diabetes through Imagine A Cure and people with medical needs around the world through Compassion International.[21]
Among the songs found in their eleventh album, Coming Up To Breathe, is a song titled I Would Die For You. This song was made in dedication to BJ Higgins, a young boy who contracted Bubonic Plague on the mission fields of Peru. Since then, I Would Die For You has been used to raise money for The Go Foundation, which was born out of Higgins' untimely death.
On Saturday, August 8, 2009 at approximately 1:15 am in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the MercyMe tour bus was traveling through an intersection on a green light when an oncoming passenger vehicle made a left turn on red into the path of the bus which resulted in a collision killing two passengers of the car and the unborn baby of the vehicle's driver. MercyMe was to perform at Six Flags St. Louis but the park issued a statement saying the show was rescheduled because the band was "involved in a vehicle accident in Indiana." [22]
Despite news reports claiming that the band remained silent during the days after the crash, not contacting the family of the deceased and injured,[23] MercyMe did release a statement through publicist Velvet Rousseau Kelm the same day as the crash: "MercyMe would like to express their incredible heartache over this horrible accident. They are praying for the families of all who this will affect, and are asking others to please pray as well. The band and crew sustained minor bumps and bruises, however their hearts are heavy. They appreciate the concern they have received from people all over the world." [24]
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