MercyMe


MercyMe is an American contemporary Christian music band founded in Edmond, Oklahoma. The band consists of lead vocalist Bart Millard, 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.
The group first gained mainstream recognition with the crossover single, "I Can Only Imagine" which elevated their debut album, Almost There, to triple platinum certification. Since then, the group has released eight additional studio albums 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 many Grammy Award nominations. On April 8, 2014, the band released its eighth studio album titled Welcome to the New. MercyMe's ninth studio album, Lifer, was released on March 31, 2017.

History

Formation and early years

Singer Bart Millard met pianist James Phillip Bryson in Lakeland, Florida, after an invitation from his youth pastor. Both led a praise team on a trip to Europe. They both felt a call to work full time in music. They later met the guitarist Michael John Scheuchzer, who joined them, then moved to Oklahoma City. The group was officially formed in 1994 in Henderson Hills Baptist Church in Edmond, Oklahoma.
In 1997, MercyMe moved to Nashville to find a record label. After a year, they left Nashville for Dallas and recorded an album. Then they settled in Greenville, Texas, and served at Highland Terrace Baptist Church.
The trio set up a studio and a "living area" in an old abandoned day-care center. Bassist Nathan Cochran and drummer Robby Shaffer later joined the band, accompanying the band in 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. The group's name, "MercyMe", originated during Millard's time as a youth ministry intern in Florida. Concerned that her grandson was home whenever she called, Millard's grandmother would exclaim, "Well mercy me, why don't you get a real job?"

''Almost There'', ''Spoken For'' and ''Undone'' (2001–2004)

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 that the song began to gain mainstream success, topping the Billboard 200 sales chart for seven weeks, and peaking at No. 71 on the Hot 100, No. 33 on the Mainstream Top 40, No. 27 on the Adult Top 40, No. 5 on the Adult Contemporary, and No. 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 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 No. 1 on Christian radio charts, with "Word of God Speak" spending a record 22 weeks atop the newly created Billboard Christian Songs chart.
The album was eventually certified gold by the RIAA.
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, giving MercyMe a second guitarist to provide greater depth on their third studio album, Undone. In 2004, the band headlined the "Imagine Tour" with fellow artists Amy Grant and Bebo Norman. 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 chart at that point. The album spawned three successful singles – "Here With Me", "Homesick", and "In the Blink of an Eye". 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.

''The Christmas Sessions'' and ''Coming Up to Breathe'' (2005–2006)

In 2005, MercyMe launched a tour with Jeremy Camp, The Afters and Monk and Neagle in support of their album, Undone.
After releasing Undone in 2004, the band took a time to rest before their next big release, so they decided to work on a Christmas record. The Christmas Sessions was recorded and was released on September 27, 2005. "The Christmas Sessions" spawned seven songs which hit the top 40 on the Christian Songs chart, and four of these charted in the top 40 of the Adult Contemporary chart. 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. 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. 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, two of which 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 and Phil Wickham, seeing half their shows sell out two weeks into the tour.

''All That is Within Me'', ''Coming Up to Breathe: Acoustic'' and ''10'' (2007–2009)

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.
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, all of which reached the top three on the Christian Songs chart; "Finally Home" also peaked at No. 17 on the Adult Contemporary chart. "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, a double album consisting of 15 studio 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.

''The Generous Mr. Lovewell'' and ''The Worship Sessions'' (2010–2011)

MercyMe's sixth studio album, The Generous Mr. Lovewell, was released on May 4, 2010. The album itself peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Christian Albums chart. The album 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.
In 2011, the band released The Worship Sessions, a worship album that was released exclusively at Family Christian Book Stores.

''The Hurt & The Healer'', ''Welcome to the New'', and ''Lifer'' (2012–present)

The Hurt & The Healer was released on May 22, 2012 by Fair Trade and Columbia Records. The album debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200, selling 33,000 copies.
Welcome to the New, the band's eighth studio album, was released on April 8, 2014 and is produced by David Garcia and Ben Glover. Singles from this album include the pre-release single "Shake", and post-release singles "Greater" and "Dear Younger Me".
Lifer, MercyMe's ninth studio album, was released on March 31, 2017, with the lead single off the album being "Even If", which was released on February 17, 2017. It samples the chorus of the hymn "It Is Well with My Soul." The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart for three weeks, becoming their twelfth number one single. It also charted on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart at No. 20. The second single, "Grace Got You", was released on March 2, 2018. It peaked at No. 3 on the Christian Songs chart and became their record extending 15th chart topper on the Christian Airplay chart. It was nominated for the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song. The third single, "Best News Ever", was released on October 5, 2018.

Charity

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.
In 2009, MercyMe conducted a 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.

The Go Foundation

"I Would Die For You", a song from their fourth album, Coming Up to Breathe, was dedicated to BJ Higgins, a young boy who contracted bubonic plague while on a mission trip in Peru. The song has been used to raise money for The Go Foundation, which was born out of Higgins' untimely death.

Tour bus accident

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 resulting in the vehicle's driver experiencing fetal loss from automotive trauma. 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".
Despite news reports claiming that the band remained silent during the days after the crash, not contacting the family of the deceased and injured, MercyMe did release a statement through their publicist the day of the crash.

Members

Current members
Former members

Billboard Music Awards