Latest news with #HotChristianSongs
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Christian Music Is Surging on Billboard's Charts, Thanks to These Two Artists
Say your prayers: Christian music is making a serious comeback. On the Billboard Hot 100, dated May 10, two Christian songs are making waves: Brandon Lake's 'Hard Fought Hallelujah' ranks at No. 44 in its 11th week on the chart (after reaching No. 40 last week) and Forrest Frank's 'Your Way's Better' jumps from No. 72 to No. 62 in its second week. More from Billboard Twenty One Pilots Fans Jumped Into Veronica Mars Mode After Someone Took Off With One of Josh Dun's Bespoke Drums Palm Tree Festival to Debut in St. Tropez With Headliners A$AP Rocky & Swedish House Mafia Kelly Clarkson Doesn't Care What HR Says, She's Totally Open to Comments on Her Weight Loss: 'I Want You to Say 'Damn!' Lake and Frank have both emerged as breakout stars in the Christian music world, thanks in part to their growing popularity across social media platforms like TikTok. Lake has charted 42 songs on the Hot Christian Songs chart, all since 2019. Nine of those reached the top 10 and six hit No. 1. Three of those hits, including 'Hard Fought Hallelujah,' spent 20-plus weeks on top. Frank, meanwhile, first broke onto Billboard's charts in 2020 as half of the pop duo Surfaces (alongside Colin Padalecki), thanks to their viral hit 'Sunday Best.' The TikTok-friendly song climbed to No. 19 on the Hot 100 and even found success at radio, reaching the top 10 of Pop Airplay. Since then, Frank has pivoted to Christian music and quickly became a force in the genre. He's logged 34 entries on the Hot Christian Songs chart, including six top 10s: 'Good Day' (No. 2 peak in 2024); 'Up!,' with Connor Price (No. 8, 2024); 'Never Get Used to This,' with JVKE (No. 6, 2024); 'The Present' (No. 9, January); 'Nothing Else,' with Thomas Rhett (No. 4, March); and 'Your Way's Better.' No other artist has charted more songs on the ranking since the beginning of 2022. He also finished 2024 as Billboard's No. 1 top new Christian artist. Frank's album Child of God has also dominated the Top Christian Albums chart, spending 34 weeks and counting at No. 1, making it the fifth-longest-leading No. 1 album this century. He released the set's follow-up, Child of God II, Friday (May 9). Christian music has historically had a limited presence on the Hot 100. Dating to when Billboard's Hot Christian Songs chart adopted its current multimetric methodology on Dec. 7, 2013 — blending U.S. streams, radio airplay and sales — 52 Christian songs have charted on both the Hot 100 and Hot Christian Songs. But there are some important caveats. Of those 52 songs, 34 were by Kanye West from his albums Jesus Is King or Donda and one was by DJ Khaled featuring West and Eminem ('Use This Gospel [Remix]') — both were, of course, already long-established hip-hop acts with a core fanbase outside of Christian music. Another six were religious-themed holiday songs (Carrie Underwood's 'Silent Night,' for example). That leaves us with just 11 Christian songs that are not tied to the holidays or crossover rap acts: Artist, Title, Peak Year on the Hot 100: Carrie Underwood, 'Something in the Water,' 2014Craig Wayne Boyd, 'The Old Rugged Cross,' 2014Hillsong UNITED, 'Oceans (Where Feet May Fail),' 2014Jordan Smith, 'Great Is Thy Faithfulness,' 2015NEEDTOBREATHE feat. Gavin DeGraw, 'Brother,' 2015Jordan Smith, 'Mary Did You Know,' 2016Avril Lavigne, 'Head Above Water,' 2018NF, 'Let You Down,' 2018Lauren Daigle, 'You Say,' 2019Brandon Lake, 'Hard Fought Hallelujah,' 2025Forrest Frank, 'Your Way's Better,' 2025 And there may be more on the way. Two additional Christian tracks are climbing Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 ranking — which lists the 25 songs just below the Hot 100 that haven't yet debuted: Elevation Worship's 'Praise,' featuring Brandon Lake, Chris Brown and Chandler Moore (No. 20; currently No. 3 on Hot Christian Songs) and Forrest Frank's 'Good Day' (No. 23; peaked at No. 2 on Hot Christian Songs last year). What makes this specific chart week extra notable for Christian music, though, is that it's just the second time (since 2013) that two Christian songs are charting simultaneously. It only happened once before on Dec. 27, 2014, when Underwood's 'Something in the Water' and Boyd's 'The Old Rugged Cross' charted together. The latter song, however, spent a week on the chart before dropping off. Unlike that week, Lake's hit has significant longevity and Frank's is still on the rise. For Provident Label Group, which finished 2024 as Billboard's No. 1 Top Christian Label and whose roster included Lake and genre powerhouse Elevation Worship, pivoting their marketing efforts to younger demographics has been key to their success. 'Over the past few years, we've focused on investing in the future of the genre instead of just seeking to repeat past successes,' said marketing & brand strategy vp Mat Anderson. 'For Christian music to thrive in the next 5-10 years, we must attract younger audiences seeking sonically diverse music that authentically reflects their faith and life experiences. We've partnered with young artists who offer unique perspectives, enabling them to shape the genre's future rather than molding them to fit its past. This approach by Provident and others has been highly successful, as the genre's rapid growth over the past three years demonstrates that Christian music is resonating with new audiences and reengaging previous ones.' Christian music has, in fact, been rising — and it's part of a broader trend. According to Luminate's 2024 year-end report, Christian/Gospel is one of the fastest-growing genres among young audiences in the U.S., with the average listener is spending 19% more time with Christian/Gospel music than in 2022. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Four Decades of 'Madonna': A Look Back at the Queen of Pop's Debut Album on the Charts Chart Rewind: In 1990, Madonna Was in 'Vogue' Atop the Hot 100
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Forrest Frank on the ‘Invisible Market' That Turned ‘Your Way's Better' Into a Hot 100 Hit
Three years after initially earning a top 20 pop hit on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 as part of the duo Surfaces, singer-songwriter Forrest Frank began to compile contemporary Christian music hits. He's become one of the genre's fastest-rising artists, melding elements of pop, hip-hop and gospel on songs such as 'No Longer Bound,' a collaboration with Hulvey, which cracked the top 20 on Billboard's Hot Christian Songs chart. But it's the ebullient, summer-ready 'Your Way's Better' that becomes Frank's first solo Hot 100 entry — the hit has reached a No. 61 high on the chart and crowns Hot Christian Songs for the first time this week (charts dated May 24). Meanwhile, his recent team-up with country artist Thomas Rhett, 'Nothing Else,' resides at No. 4 on the same chart. Frank originally released the pop-inflected 'Your Way's Better' in October 2024, but the song's success was spurred by TikTok momentum earlier this year, thanks to a viral TikTok dance that both resonated with fans — and took Frank, then on a social media hiatus, by surprise. More from Billboard Christian Music Is Surging on Billboard's Charts, Thanks to These Two Artists Lady Gaga Wins 2025 Sports Emmy for 'Hold My Hand' Pre-Super Bowl Tribute to Disaster Victims A$AP Rocky Teases New Song at Cannes During 'Highest 2 Lowest' Premiere In the past year, Frank has released music at a dizzying speed, stoking fervor in the industry and his growing fan base. His July 2024 album, Child of God, was nominated for a Grammy for best contemporary Christian music album and nominated for top Christian album at the Billboard Music Awards. By that November, he returned with a deluxe version of the album; on May 9, he released its follow-up, Child of God II. The two installments currently hold Nos. 1 and 2 on Top Christian Albums, with his more recent project leading the chart. 'That's kind of a theme for me in my career,' Frank tells Billboard, calling while on the road during the second part of his sold-out Child of God tour. 'I love pushing the boundaries, and I feel like my career is busting myths.' Below, Frank talks about 'Your Way's Better,' Child of God II and Christian music's current Hot 100 surge. How did 'Your Way's Better' come about? I was having a hard day and had gone for a drive. I remember pulling into my neighborhood and that chorus came spilling out. It was just a prayer that ended up having a melody with it. I recorded a voice memo of it on my phone and didn't do anything with it for a few months. Then, backstage at [Frank's 2024 Child of God tour], I pulled out my laptop and produced the beat for it. Then, my producer friend PERA came out to a session and we were jamming on this song and I said, 'What if you play something kind of somber?' He starts playing it, and I freestyled the melody [and] some of the words that ended up on the track. You released 'Your Way's Better' last October, but a dance that went viral on TikTok and social media helped boost it. How did that happen? It was my 12th- or 13th-highest streaming song at a daily rate — it was not making a big splash. There's a couple, David Myers and Bridgette [Nicole], and they post a new dance almost every day to different songs, and it was one they did [in February]. What's interesting is that I was taking a social media break — I had posted maybe three times in a four-month period. At first, I didn't really engage with it, but then I saw a significant jump in my streams. I'm seeing these kids doing the dance, and it's kind of like this vacation Bible school type thing, [learning] the dance to go with the song and do the hand motions and stuff. It is like that energy, but not in an enclosed church space. It just kind of feels like it's across the whole world. You just released your new album, , on May 9, just 10 months after and six months after its deluxe edition. Why did you want to drop another full album so soon? They say you have to upload a song about a month before it comes out to make sure that all the distributing partners have enough time to add it to playlists and can properly program. I remember a year or two ago thinking, 'Is that really the case?' So, I uploaded music closer to the deadline, like 48 hours before a release and it made it on [Spotify playlist] New Music Friday. With Child of God, I had a song with Connor Price called 'Up!' and that splashed and two weeks later, we released 'Good Day,' which became the next biggest one. We kept dropping songs every two weeks because that's the pace I was writing music. Rather than hold back music for months, why not just put everything out there and see what happens? I feel like life is short: My time and moment is finite to a degree, so if I'm excited about these songs and the fans are excited, why would I hold stuff back? There are a lot of crossover efforts between contemporary Christian music and country happening now, such as your collaboration with Thomas Rhett on 'Nothing Else.' Why do you think that's the case? I think including God is pretty common in country music, [but] I've noticed that transition in my heart and the fullness I get to experience in praising God specifically. I think the country space is starting to feel that as well. I could see in the next year or two, a lot of the A-list country artists just making straight-up Christian worship songs. With Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll's 'Hard Fought Hallelujah' also on the Hot 100, what's your take on the surge in Christian music's popularity? I think it's just the people. Yes, it's the artists who are expressing their genuine love for God, but also, it's the consumers that are supporting it and championing it. With my tour, there's this family thing going on: We didn't expect for families to come to the show, but 'Your Way's Better' has become the music for the car ride, the music on the way to school. It was like an invisible market. I knew that there was kind of a starving family market, but here it is. A version of this story appears in the May 17, 2025, issue of Billboard. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
