Christian songs/musicians that found mainstream success?

[Brad Russ]

Switchfoot: They have been singing Christian music since the early, to mid 90's, but it wasn't until 2003 that they broke out into the mainstream with the song "Meant To Live" which ended up being a top 50 song for 2003. There new album, "Nothing Is Sound" debuted at number one on the alternative charts, and so far on that cd they have hits with songs such as: "We Are One Tonight", "Lonely Nation", and "Stars". I'm hoping the song "The Shadow Proves The Sunshine" becomes a huge hit, because it's the best song on the album in my opinion. Switchfoot recently has even had there music played in commercials promoting the NBA, and the winter olympics.

Mercy Me: They had a huge hit in 2002 I believe it was, with the song "I Can Only Imagine". It turned out to be a top 40 song of the year for 2002.

Jars of Clay: These guys are one of the top bands in Christian music today, and are currently going stronger then ever!! They had a huge hit in the mid 90's with the song "Flood", and it actually played regularly on MTV. Anyway, they are an awesome band, and I hope they stay around for many many more years to come!!

There's a bunch more I could list, but I'll do it later. What are some of the Christian songs, groups, and singers, that had major mainstream success in your lifetime??

[ABlairican Pie]

Amy Grant--The song "Love Will Find a Way" and the "Unguarded" album were the big things back in 1985 that broke open the Christian crossover craze. Of course there were tons of Christians who insisted on keeping Amy all to themselves in the Christian music "ghetto", and cried "sellout" when she did make the switch. Then everyone got on her case for not "proselytizing" and "preaching" in her concerts and song lyrics, but she never felt that she was all about that approach in the first place.

Bob Carlisle--"Butterfly Kisses" was a big song in 1998 (even though I haven't heard it), a gentle song about daddy's girl's wedding day that was big on sentimentality. Another huge crossover hit.

Jars of Clay--For some reason, this band was labelled an "alternative lite" band, and received a bit of airplay on mainstream radio even though they sounded just like what you'd expect to hear on a Christian station.

MxPx--The punk trio from Bremerton, Washington, has had a huge following for over ten years and have even played at the Bumbershoot festival and have more of a "secular" audience.

Other crossover artists:

Skillet

Lifehouse

Underoath

Zao

Actually, I'm certain some of these bands are more "secular" bands with Christian members than those who crossed over. I'll have to check on that.