Matthew West's Platinum Motions

Capitol Christian Music Group surprised Matthew West with an RIAA certified platinum (1 million single sales) plaque commemorating his landmark song, "The Motions." No. 1 at Christian airplay for eight weeks with over 170 million global streams, the hit single marks West's first career RIAA certified platinum single.

Chris Pratt Visits Roadshow Tour

Artists on the Roadshow tour entertained a very special guest last Sunday in Ontario, CA, when actor Chris Pratt came to see the show. In January, Chris Pratt introduced his 14.9 million Instagram followers to one of his favorite artists, Zach Williams, by sharing the Dove winner's song "Chain Breaker" in a video. To date the video has received over 2 million views. A representative from Merge PR shared with NRT, "From that post made in January, Chris and Zach connected, and Chris said he'd some see Zach at a show some time. So when the Roadshow tour hit the LA area this past Sunday night guess who came to the show to see Zach perform - Chris Pratt! He took some pics with a few other folks but the coolest part was he was there for Zach."

Zach Williams and Matthew West both shared photos taken with Chris to their Instagram pages: "Huge fan of this guy!" Matthew wrote. "Had a great time hanging with @prattprattpratt. Such a down to Earth dude!" Zach wrote. "Praying blessings over him and his career." 

The Roadshow posted the photo of Williams and Pratt along with a few action shots of the show with the caption: "Oh, hey, Chris Pratt! Thanks for worshipping with us in Ontario. If you ever need help saving the world from dinosaurs or intergalactic outlaws, Zach Williams has your back. And we've got a VIP pass for you anytime you're in the neighborhood. Great hanging out with you for a bit. You were a real encouragement to us in the middle of a long tour. Thanks."

Check out theroadshowtour.com for upcoming shows near you. We can't guarantee that Starlord will be there, but some of his favorite artists will.                 

Elisabeth Hasselbeck And Matthew West To Host 2016 K-LOVE Fan Awards

Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Matthew West will host the 2016 K-LOVE Fan Awards live from the Grand Ole Opry House on June 5. K-LOVE, with a weekly listener-ship of over 14 million people, will once again bring the fan-voted experience to Nashville June 3-5.

Fans are already voting on KLOVEFanAwards.com to select their favorite artists. Their votes will formulate the official nominees in each of the seven categories, including Artist of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Female Artist of the Year and more. Place your vote.

"What a thrill and blessing it is to co-host the 2016 K-LOVE Fan Awards with the brilliant Matthew West," shares Hasselbeck. "To all my K-LOVE friends: get ready to praise and party with us because #GodIsGood!" The New York Times bestselling author and long-time Christian music fan originally announced her return as host live on FOX & Friends during her final day on the widely popular morning show.

Matthew West Performs at Restoring Unity

Matthew West performed his hit song “Do Something” for the Restoring Unity rally — an event that attracted more than 20,000.

The song carries a strong message about the importance of making a positive personal impact on the world.

“People living in poverty, children sold into slavery — the thought disgusted me,” the song’s lyrics read, in part. “So, I shook my fist at heaven, said, ‘God, why don’t You do something?’ He said, ‘I did, I created you.’”

Watch West perform “Do Something” (and the crowd go wild) below:

#RestoringUnity
Posted by Matthew West on Saturday, August 29, 2015

Matthew West's "Do Something" Is Theme Song for Glenn Beck Event

On Saturday, August 29, Matthew West will appear in Birmingham, Alabama in front of thousands during the Restoring Unity event to perform his hit single "Do Something." Restoring Unity is a two-day event helmed by Glenn Beck which supports his non-profit organization, Mercury One.

When West appeared on Beck's radio show earlier this summer to talk about his new album, Live Forever, the two made an instant connection. And during their visit, Beck soon realized that Matthew West was the artist and songwriter behind "Do Something," the very song that Beck wanted as the theme for his Mercury One event, Restoring Unity. Leading up to August 29, "Do Something" can be heard every day on Glenn Beck's TV show. (To find out more about this event, visit Now.MercuryOne.org.)

With his latest album, West continues his mission to tell a story of a different kind with his music-to transform listeners' stories into life-changing songs.

In between festival dates, last weekend West appeared at Chicago's famed Wrigley Field for the Cubs' home game to sing the National Anthem. He also performed "God Bless America" in front of the packed stadium and went on to watch his favorite team win against the San Francisco Giants.    

Matthew West Appears on Glenn Beck Radio show

Matthew West appeared on Glenn Beck's radio program this morning discussing the story behind his hit "Do Something" then performing it.

Matthew West Interviewed on Blaze TV

Award winning singer-songwriter Matthew West on Tuesday explained on the Glenn Beck Program on The Blaze how losing his voice put him on the path he is on today, and ultimately allowed him to tell the stories of countless others.

“About seven years ago, my career was about to take off to the next level, or so I thought. And my voice left me,” West explained on The Glenn Beck Program. “They told me I was going to need to have career-threatening vocal cord surgery and warned me that my voice may never sound the same again.”

West had the surgery, and said that for two months, he was unable to sing or speak.



“You do some pretty intense soul-searching during that time,” he remarked. “It was during that time that I began to think, ‘Well if my voice does come back, how could I use my voice differently? What if God is going to give me my voice back to give a voice to other people?’”

“Fast-forward, I feel like that’s become my mission in life, using my voice as a singer and songwriter to tell the stories of other people’s lives and in doing so, hopefully empower people to realize that their life is a one in a million, unique story that can go out and change the world,” West said.

“There are so many people that are so defeated, they don’t even believe they can change their own life,” he continued. “But I believe that every single one of our stories, as broken as they might be, was designed ultimately to become a redemption story.”

West said he has collected over 40,000 stories, and some of them are shared on his new album “Live Forever.”

“When we begin to live our redemption story not out of defeat but in hope, the world can’t help but change,” he concluded.

Matthew West Trends On Facebook

It's a rare when a Christian singer is actually a trending topic. Lecrae managed it a few weeks ago with the release of Anomaly. Now it's Matthew West's turn. In honor of the Kansas City Royals (of whom West is a big fan) earning a berth to the World Series this year, West recorded a cover of number one pop hit "Royals" by Lorde. In order to make the song a little bit more appropriate to the situation, West re-wrote the lyrics about the championship-seeking team.

The song was debuted on Kansas City Christian radio station Life 88.5 yesterday and since then it has gone viral across the nation. It is sure to be the battle cry for the Kansas City Royals as they face the San Francisco Giants in the World Series which begins Tuesday night at 8:07 Eastern on FOX.

Listen to the song.

45th Annual GMA Dove Awards Announced Today

The GMA announced today the nominees in 42 categories for the 45th Annual GMA Dove Awards. The awards show will take place on Tuesday, October 7 at Allen Arena in Nashville, TN at 6:30pm CT. TBN will air the awards show.

Artists Hillsong United, Lecrae, Mandisa and Matt Maher have 5 nominations apiece.  The full list of nominees can be found here.

The nominees in 20 categories were revealed today during the press conference and below are two of the top categories announced today.

Song of the Year
“Fix My Eyes” - for KING & COUNTRY
“Hello My Name Is” – Matthew West
“Hurricane” – Natalie Grant
“I Can Trust Him” – The Perrys
“Lord I Need You” – Matt Maher
“Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)” – Hillsong UNITED
“Overcomer” – Mandisa
“Revival” – Karen Peck and New River
“Say Amen” – Brian Free & Assurance
“That’s Why” – Ernie Haase and Signature Sound

Artist of the Year
Casting Crowns
Hillsong UNITED
Lecrae
Mandisa
NEEDTOBREATHE
Switchfoot

Dancing With the Stars Finalist Candace Cameron Bure and Matthew West to Host K-LOVE Fan Awards at Grand Ole Opry

TV star and current Dancing With the Stars finalist Candace Cameron Bure and Grammy-nominated Matthew West will host the K-LOVE Fan Awards on Sunday, June 1 at the Grand Ole Opry House.

Voting for the K-LOVE Fan Awards is open now until Midnight ET on Saturday, May 31. Partnering with World Hope to aid in revival efforts for the city of Detroit, MI., every half a million votes cast for the Fan Awards will unlock a newly remodeled home for a family in need in Detroit, with a goal of two million votes and four homes total. The first week of voting alone eclipsed 500,000 votes, unlocking the first home.

Winners will be announced live at the awards show in the categories of music, sports, books and movies.

Last week, K-LOVE announced key performers for the award show includingy Chris Tomlin, Hillsong UNITED, Steven Curtis Chapman, MercyMe, Francesca Battistelli and many more.

This year, fans will have more opportunities than ever to see and interact with their favorite Christian music artists at the K-LOVE Fan Awards Weekend. Starting Friday night, May 30, the weekend will start with a bang at the official Weekend Kickoff Concert, featuring performances by Tenth Avenue North, Switchfoot, for KING & COUNTRY, Rend Collective and a surprise headlining artist.

All weekend, fans will be able to participate in the first ever K-LOVE Fan Zone, which will feature a variety of fan-focused events including tours of Jeremy Camp's tour bus, celebrity basketball games, autograph sessions and more. Saturday night will end with the new Songwriters Spotlight, hosted by Steven Curtis Chapman. On Sunday, Michael W. Smith will start the day off with a special Worship Service at the Opryland Resort. The events of the day will lead to the official K-LOVE Fan Awards Show nearby at the Grand Ole Opry House.

UP to Host Star Studded Christmas Special on Monday with Host Cameron Cameron Bure

UP and national Christian radio powerhouse, K-LOVE, present the original Christmas special "K-LOVE Music City Christmas," hosted by Candace Cameron Bure (Finding Normal, "Full House").

The hour-long special will include performances of beloved Christmas standards and original songs by leading Christian music artists, including TobyMac, Newsboys with for KING & COUNTRY, Mandisa, Colton Dixon, Kari Jobe, Matthew West, Brandon Heath, Crowder, Big Daddy Weave and Tenth Avenue North, as well as heartfelt and lively holiday memories with the stars.

The special was taped before a live audience in Nashville, TN. It will premiere on Monday, December 9 at 8 p.m. ET.

Pepsi Presenting Sponsor for Inaugural K-Love Fan Awards

K-LOVE, the leading Christian radio network with a weekly listenership of over 13 million people, is bringing the first ever fan-voted award show in Christian music history to Nashville. The K-LOVE Fan Awards will be held on Saturday, June 1st at 7:30pm at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium.

Starting today through May 31 fans can vote for their favorite nominees at KLOVEFanAwards.com  in categories celebrating artists, athletes, authors and entertainers who, with excellence engage and impact popular culture for Jesus Christ. Leading artist nominees are TobyMac and Newsboys with three nominations each. See below for the complete list of nominees in each category.

Nominees were determined by K-LOVE with consideration given to airplay, spins, impact and overall performance. Winners are solely determined by fan vote online. The winners will be announced at the awards show hosted by the stars from A&E TV's popular show "Duck Dynasty," Phil and Kay Robertson and Jase and Missy Robertson. A&E's top show surpassed "American Idol" ratings last week during the "Duck Dynasty" finale.

Performers already slated are fan favorites TobyMac, MercyMe, Amy Grant, Third Day, Newsboys, Casting Crowns, NEEDTOBREATHE, Steven Curtis Chapman, Matthew West and many more.

In addition to the unprecedented list of performers, sport figures set to attend the special evening include Mike Fisher (Nashville Predators), Barrett Jones (Two-time National Champion from Alabama), Jason Hanson (21-year Detroit Lions kicker), Alfred Morris (Washington Redskins) and Hugh Freeze (Head football coach from the University of Mississippi). Representing the movie impact category will be Kirk Cameron (Monumental, Fireproof), Alex Kendrick (Facing the Giants, Fireproof, Courageous) and David Evans (The Grace Card).

In honor of the awards, Pepsi will be launching their Christian Artist Can Panel series at the weekend's events. The four artists that will be featured include Matt Maher (Dr. Pepper), Francesca Battistelli (Diet Pepsi), Matthew West (Pepsi), and TobyMac (Mountain Dew). Each artist will be featured on three million cans for a total of 12 million cans - 12 million new ways to change lives. On each can a link will be featured to receive a free download from each artist.

In addition to the presenting sponsor, the official charity sponsor has been revealed as World Vision.

Winter Jam #1 Tour in the World for Third Straight Year

For the third consecutive year, the Winter Jam Tour Spectacular reigns as the #1 tour in the world (first quarter). Leading Pollstar's 2013 Worldwide First Quarter Ticket Sales Charts - Top 100 Tours, Winter Jam attendance surpassed all other tours to date this year, including outings by Pink, Maroon 5, Justin Bieber and Bon Jovi, among others. 
 
Concluding its 18th season March 30 with a record-setting 42 sellouts since launching in January, the 44-city mega tour hit some of the country's largest arenas. With a combined total audience of nearly 554,000 people, this year's tour was the biggest in Winter Jam history. 


Founded and hosted by NewSong, Winter Jam was headlined by GRAMMY®-winning, multi-platinum artist TobyMac. The tour also featured RED, Matthew West, Jamie Grace, Sidewalk Prophets, Royal Tailor, Jason Castro, OBB and Capital Kings.

Highlights of this year's tour included sellouts at such top venues as Chicago's Sears Centre; Atlanta's Philips Arena; The Sprint Center in Kansas City; Oklahoma City's Chesapeake Energy Arena; and Cleveland's Wolstein Center, among numerous others. Winter Jam's capacity "hometown" stop at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena February 9 featured a string of special guest appearances, including Newsboys' Michael Tait, Francesca Battistelli, Mandisa and for KING & COUNTRY.

Winter Jam Rings Up a Record 23 Sellouts in Tour's First Half

Reaching its midpoint last weekend, the internationally top-ranked Winter Jam Tour Spectacular reports a record-setting 23 sellouts to date this year. Playing in 24 cities so far, the tour drew more than 19,000 people at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Florida, and 18,000 at Columbus, Ohio's Schottenstein Center, while nearly 16,000 packed Charlotte, North Carolina's Time Warner Cable Arena. This year Winter Jam has seen almost 300,000 attendees to date, with 20 more concerts slated through March.
The Winter Jam 2013 Tour Spectacular is headlined by GRAMMY®-winning, multi-platinum recording artist TobyMac. The 44-city tour, which launched its unprecedented 18th year January 4 in Charleston, West Virginia also features RED, Matthew West, Jamie Grace, Sidewalk Prophets and Royal Tailor, with a message from national speaker Nick Hall, Winter Jam's Pre-Jam Party includes performances from Jason Castro, OBB and Capital Kings.

Winter Jam has been the #1 tour in the world (first quarter) for the last two consecutive years, based on attendance, according to Pollstar's 2012 Worldwide First Quarter Ticket Sales Charts - Top 100 Tours. Created by NewSong in 1995, the tour has consistently featured the genre's biggest names, introducing Christian music to new audiences across the country while providing a powerful platform for the Gospel message.

Matthew West on Fox and Friends After the Show Show

Watch video here.

Matthew West to Entertain National TV Audiences with Appearances on Fox & Friends and Katie

Matthew West is slated to perform before two national television audiences over the next week with stops at Katie and Fox & Friends. West will perform his hit single, "Forgiveness," which has inspired radio listeners and is featured on his new album, Into The Light. Also set to appear on Katie are Renee Napier and Eric Smallridge, whose touching story has become the inspiration behind "Forgiveness." The singer-songwriter will perform live this Saturday, Dec. 15 on Fox & Friends, which airs at 6:00 AM - 10:00 AM EST on FOX News Channel. His performance on ABC's No. 1 new talk show, Katie, will air next Wed., Dec. 19 (check local listings).

Best Male Christian Vocalists of All Time

Below is our list for the best male Christian vocalists of all time.

This list is not just based on vocal prowess, criteria also include song quality, impact on industry, ability to play an instrument and/or craft a song, and of course my personal bias...

10.  Matthew West
9. Ken Tamplin
8. Michael Tait (also of dc Talk & Newsboys) & Kevin Max (also of dc Talk and Audio A)
7. John Elefante
6. Michael Sweet (also of Stryper fame)

5. Michael W. Smith

4. Jeremy Camp
3. Bryan Duncan

2. Steven Curtis Chapman

1. Russ Taff

Honorable Mentions:

Brandon Heath

Charlie Peacock

Chris Tomlin

Mark Schultz
Phil Keaggy
Todd Agnew
Warren Barfield

On the way to establishing post-band career:
Peter Furler (of Newsboys)
John Schlitt (of Petra fame)
Martin Smith (of delirious?)

To make the list manageable, we've also excluded vocalists who are primarily fronting a band without a body of solo work.  That list is here.

Thoughts?

Matthew West Nominated for Primetime Emmy Award

Matthew West has beens nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Original Music and Lyrics for his song “The Heart of Christmas” from the film The Heart of Christmas.
 
The 64th Primetime Emmy® Awards
 program will air on September 23rd, live on ABC at 8e|5p. 
 
“I am honored to have had the chance to be a part of the movie The Heart of Christmas,” says West. “When I wrote the song, I never even imagined being recognized in this way, but I am thankful and hope this Emmy® nomination will shine a greater light on this little movie with a big heart.”
 
THE HEART OF CHRISTMAS movie inspired by GRAMMY®-nominated singer-songwriter Matthew West’s viral holiday hit, "One Last Christmas," debuted on gmc (Gospel Music Channel) on Dec. 4, 2011, and was the highest-rated gmc world-premiere movie in the history of the cable channel

Ring The Bell

Ring The Bell, the first feature film from Mark A. Miller, begins production on Monday, March 5. Miller is the lead singer and founder of the country music group Sawyer Brown, and is taking a break from the band's 30th anniversary tour to produce the film.

When slick high -powered agent Rob Decker arrives looking for his next major league prospect, he finds more than he bargained for at the Cooke Boys Ranch. As he works to secure Shawn Hart, the top high school baseball prospect in the country, he encounters a cast of characters who value happiness and common sense over dollars and cents. Filled with music, laughter and faith, Ring The Bell is a transforming story of how one fast-paced executive learns the true meaning of success.

The film features a host of well known Christian music artists: Mark Hall and Casting Crowns, Steven Curtis Chapman and Matthew West all play a role in this inspirational drama There are also several former Major League Baseball stars who will be featured in the film, including ESPN analyst John Kruk and Cy Young Award winning pitcher Rick Sutcliffe. The script was written by Mark A. Miller and Thomas Weber, and Weber will direct the production. Ring The Bell is the first release from Whitney Beach Pictures.

Provident Films (October Baby, Courageous, Fireproof) is a partner in the marketing and distribution of the movie. Specific plans and timing will be announced at a future date.

Whitney Beach Pictures is a partnership between Steve Williams and Mark A. Miller's Beach Street Music, the label behind platinum-selling Christian recording artist Casting Crowns. Ring The Bell is the first in a slate of faith-based films to be produced by the independent studio.

Who has had the most #1s?

Which artist has had the most #1 Christian singles? It's a bit tricky because Billboard has only been tracking for 7 years, but the order is:

No. 1 Songs, Artist
8 - MercyMe
7 - Casting Crowns
4 - Jeremy Camp
4 - Third Day
4 - Matthew West

What about albums? The answer may surprise you, I know the Top 7 certainly did for me because of some notable absences:

No. 1 Albums, Artist
19 - Michael W. Smith
9 - Steven Curtis Chapman
8 - Amy Grant
5 - Carman
5 - Kirk Franklin
5 - MercyMe
5 - P.O.D.