 | | With a bright and sunny modern pop sound, Tenth Avenue North (the group took its name from a major road in the West Palm Beach, FL area where the band was originally formed) have become one of the brightest lights on the contemporary Christian music scene. |
 | | Toby McKeehan (or tobyMac, as he is professionally known) grew up in the northern Virginia suburbs in the shadow of Washington, D. |
 | | Christian pop songstress Francesca Battistelli began her music career at a young age. When she was six years old, the New York City native attended a Broadway performance of The Secret Garden and walked away with her sights set on the stage. |
 | | One of the leading artists on the contemporary Christian scene, Jeremy Camp has gained a sizable fan following for his passionate, well-crafted rock songs and heartfelt testimonies of faith in spite of life's obstacles. |
 | | Guitarists Matt Hammitt and Chris Rohman formed Christian rock group Sanctus Real in 1996 while both were still tenth graders at Toledo Christian School. |
 | | One of the more media-exposed Christian rock bands of the '90s, Newsboys formed in the late '80s around a core of John James, Peter Furler, and Philip Urry. |
 | | The Christian pop group Casting Crowns formed in 1999 as a student worship band in Daytona Beach, Florida. |
 | | Influenced by the Southern rock of Lynyrd Skynyrd and other artists such as U2 and Rich Mullins, Third Day were originally formed by vocalist Mac Powell and acoustic guitarist Mark Lee. |
 | | Although praise & worship band MercyMe was founded in 1994, vocalist Bart Millard says that the group's birth was a process God began in him during high school. |
 | | One of the leading artists and activists within contemporary Christian music, Chris Tomlin is a successful singer and songwriter whose 2005 album Arriving has sold over 500,000 copies, and whose compositions "Holy Is the Lord" and "How Great Is Our God" are among the most popular contemporary songs in the world's churches, being sung by millions of Christians at worship services every week. |
 | | Before he became a Grammy-nominated contemporary Christian artist, Brandon Heath spent his childhood years in Nashville, TN. |
 | | After practicing, writing, and performing for a few years, the self-described "radical girls for God" found themselves at a festival with fellow Christian rockers Superchic[k]. |
 | | Before becoming an award-winning CCM artist, Matthew West began his professional career penning hits for other artists, including Billy Ray Cyrus, Rascal Flatts, and Point of Grace. |
 | | Christian vocalist Natalie Grant launched her career as a member of the Truth before moving to Nashville, TN in pursuit of a solo career. |
 | | With a name taken from Ephesians 4:29 ("Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up"), Building 429 was committed to music as much as message. |
 | | Formed in 2000 by four Starbucks employees in Mesquite, TX, the Afters are an alternative CCM rock outfit originally known as Blisse. |
 | | A contemporary Christian rock band, Big Daddy Weave formed in 1998 in Mobile, Alabama, where the bandmembers, Mike Weaver (guitar, lead vocals), Jay Weaver (bass, vocals), Jeremy Redmon (guitar, vocals), Jeff Jones (drums), and Joe Shirk (saxophone, keyboards) were all attending school. |
 | | Kutless, a Christian alternative band specializing in melodic hard rock, released their self-titled debut on BEC Recordings in 2002. |
 | | Named after acclaimed University of Alabama football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, brothers Bear and Bryant "Bo" Rinehart were born and raised in rural Possum Kingdom, South Carolina, where their pastor father ran a church camp. |
 | | After gaining a foothold in the contemporary Christian music scene, Switchfoot went mainstream with 2003's The Beautiful Letdown, a double-platinum album that straddled the line between sacred and secular rock music. |
 | | Addison Road's combination of alternative pop/rock and Christian sensibilities took root in 2001, when Baylor University students Jenny Chisolm and Ryan Simmons (who later married) were approached with a lucrative offer to play a youth group event. |
 | | Singer/guitarist David Crowder first stepped into the music industry when he realized that over half of the students at Baylor University, a Christian school that he attended in Waco, TX, were not going to church. |
 | | A contemporary Christian singer and songwriter, Aaron Shust grew up in Pennsylvania, but became a true musician in Georgia, where he studied music theory. |
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 | | Jars of Clay were the breakout band of the so-called alternative CCM movement of the '90s, scoring an enormous mainstream hit with the debut single "Flood" and enjoying platinum sales. |
 | | Born in Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1971, guitarist/singer/songwriter Lincoln Brewster was playing drums, guitar, and mandolin by the age of seven. |
 | | With their fusion of rock, rap and funk, Audio Adrenaline emerged as one of the most popular CCM acts of the 1990s. |
 | | The light and passionate sounds of Matt Redman are even more endearing when you know that he writes his own material, something that few pop artists really do. |
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 | | Contemporary Christian singer-songwriter Nichole Nordeman grew up in Colorado and was working as a waitress in Los Angeles when she entered a contest sponsored by the Gospel Music Association's Academy of Gospel Music Arts, winning with her song, "Why," in which the crucifixion is viewed by a child. |
 | | Australian Rebecca St. James began her successful CCM vocal career at the age of 16, releasing her self-titled debut on Frontline Records in 1994. |
 | | His music a cross between '70s-style light rock and orchestrated pop, Steven Curtis Chapman has been one of the most prominent performers of contemporary Christian music since the '80s. |
 | | The first gospel act to incorporate hip-hop influences (though the trio rarely departs from standard pop/rock), dc Talk became one of the most popular groups in Christian contemporary music during the mid-'90s, when their fourth album, Jesus Freak, made the highest debut for a gospel act on Billboard's album charts. |
 | | Phillips, Craig & Dean first appeared in 1992, when the trio's self-titled debut introduced a blend of Christian ministry, vocal harmony, and contemporary pop/rock songwriting. |
 | | Christian rock and worship group Hillsong United spun out of Australia's Hillsong Church, a Pentecostal ministry based in northwest Sydney. |
 | | Michael Whitaker Smith became one of the most enduringly popular artists in the contemporary Christian music market while also finding brief success as a mainstream artist. |
 | | CCM group NewSong were formed in Valdosta, GA, in 1981 by Eddie Carswell, Billy Goodwin, Eddie Middleton, and Bobby Apon, who met while attending Morningside Baptist Church. |
 | | Adopted at the age of two weeks old, singer/songwriter Mark Schultz grew up in Colby, KS. Although he enjoyed great success in high school sports such as track and football, Schultz' musical talents outshone his athletic strengths. |
 | | It's the kind of story that most bands dream will happen to them: small band from medium-sized city goes to bigger city battle of the bands, ends up winning, gets record contract, and the first single is a hit. |
 | | Nashville-based singer/songwriter, minister, and choreographer Nicole Mullen has worked as a vocalist with Michael W. |
 | | Christian singer and songwriter Matt Maher was born in Newfoundland, Canada, but it was not until a family upheaval led Maher to the desert climes of Arizona that he would find his calling and begin a musical career that would find him composing work for genre artists such as Bethany Dillon and Chris Tomlin, as well as releasing albums and playing shows across the Southwest -- and eventually the world. |
 | | Praise & worship singer and songwriter Todd Agnew was born March 15, 1971, in Dallas, TX. With a kind of indie rock approach, pop-oriented style, and unique voice (which at times takes some getting used to), Agnew's spiritually directed songs aren't quite like anything else in the contemporary Christian market. |
 | | Alternative CCM vocal group FFH (Far from Home) comprised husband and wife Jeromy and Jennifer Deibler, Michael Boggs, and Brian Smith. |
 | | Denise Jones, Heather Floyd and Terry Lang began singing as the Oauchitones in Norman, OK, but added Shelley Phillips in 1991 to form Say So (later Point of Grace) at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, AR. |
 | | The Christian music trio ZOEgirl were highly regarded for their sweet harmonies laced with dance inflections and charismatic performances. |
 | | Singer/songwriter Tiffany Arbuckle fronted the Dove Award-winning alternative rock band Plumb during the late '90s, and adopted the name Plumb for her subsequent full-fledged solo career. |
 | | Nashville-based alternative CCM group Sonicflood comprised singer Jeff Deyo, guitarists Dwayne Larring, and Dana Weaver, bassist Rick Heil, keyboardist Jason Halbert, and drummer Aaron Blanton. |
 | | Beginning in 2006, upon signing to Flicker Records after a couple independent releases, Fireflight became one of the most popular bands on Christian rock radio. |
 | | Originally known simply as Tree, Tree63 is an alternative CCM group from Durban, South Africa, influenced by bands like delirious? and Sonicflood, with dashes of U2, Jars of Clay, and early dc Talk for good measure. |
 | | CCM band Caedmon's Call fuse folk-rock with adult alternative rock influences. Cliff Young (vocals, rhythm guitar), Derek Webb (lead guitar, vocals), Danielle Glenn (vocals), Aric Nitzberg (bass), Todd Bragg (drums), Randy Holsapple (organ), and Garett Buell (percussion) formed the Houston, Texas-based band at Texas Christian University in the summer of 1992. |
