American singer and songwriter (born 1972)
Musical artist
Bart Marshall Millard
(born December 1, 1972) is an American singer and songwriter who is best known as the leader of the band
MercyMe
. He has also released two solo albums:
Hymned, No. 1
, in 2005 and
Hymned Again
in 2008. He received a
solo Grammy nomination in the category of Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album
for the latter album.
Band career
[
edit
]
In high school, Millard wanted to become a
football
player, a dream which ended when he injured both ankles at a high school football game. As a result, Millard took choir as an elective. Millard's father, Arthur Wesley Millard Jr.,
[3]
died in 1991, during Bart's first year of college, and his youth pastor invited him to work with the church's youth group worship band. Millard accepted and worked with the video and audio systems for the group. James (Jim) Bryson played piano for that band and later went on to play with Bart Millard and the worship band on a trip to Switzerland. This trip inspired Millard to pursue a full-time musical career. Millard and two of his friends, James Phillip Bryson and Michael John Scheuchzer, moved to
Oklahoma City
,
[
when?
]
and formed
MercyMe
. Since then, the band has recorded six independent, ten studio, two Christmas, and three compilation albums.
[4]
Solo career
[
edit
]
Millard made a promise to his grandmother to record an album of hymns before she died, which he did with
Hymned No. 1
, and he subsequently shared the story of how he was inspired by his grandmother's faith.
[5]
[6]
[7]
Millard made the second of his two hymn albums because he realized that the church he was attending did not sing hymns and he wanted his children to have hymns as a part of their lives.
[5]
Millard said his dad heavily influenced him in his musical direction with respect to the hymn albums, drawing particularly on
Willie Nelson
and
Louie Prima
.
[5]
Millard stated that these influences would not be appropriate for MercyMe,
[5]
as MercyMe is similar to
Coldplay
, while these hymns are more in the vein of
Frank Sinatra
.
[5]
Millard said that he embarked on his solo effort in order to give expression to musical styles that would not have been compatible with MercyMe.
[5]
Millard said that they sang a
Hank Williams
song called "
I Saw the Light
" in his church growing up.
[5]
The title of
Hymned Again
is a "tongue-in-cheek" reference to the first album.
[5]
The first album was an effort to make songs that he did not particularly care about cooler, and the second album was created to achieve a Kansas City swing/shuffle mood in the vein of Louie Prima,
Harry Connick Jr.
and
Jamie Cullum
, which is what was achieved.
[5]
[6]
According to Greer, this album was very reminiscent of
She
by Connick, which was done five or six times according to Millard.
[6]
Millard said he accomplished this by listening to a stack of albums by these musicians.
[6]
Millard said the songs on the album
Hymned Again
are in the tradition of the Great Revival era musically, but that this was not done on purpose.
[6]
Millard said the one original song on the album, titled "Jesus Cares for Me", was written by
Thad Cockrell
, a song that, according to the singer, "could’ve been written 50, 60 years ago."
[6]
Millard nervously asked
Vince Gill
to participate on the album.
[6]
On the possibility of a future "Hymned" effort, Millard said, "Man, I hope so."
[5]
Millard is featured as a vocalist on "I See Love", a 2004 single by
Third Day
and
Steven Curtis Chapman
. He is also featured as a
backing vocalist
on
Phil Wickham
's 2009 single "
Safe
".
Awards
[
edit
]
Millard was deemed the Best Male Vocalist by
Christianity Today
in 2005 for his work on his solo album
Hymned No. 1
and for
The Christmas Sessions
album with
MercyMe
.
[8]
Millard's
Hymned No. 1
was ranked No. 9 on
Christianity Today
's Best Christian Albums of 2005.
[9]
Film
[
edit
]
Millard's song "
I Can Only Imagine
" was inspired by his father's death, and was made into a film also titled
I Can Only Imagine
. The film was released on March 16, 2018.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Millard is from
Greenville, Texas
, where he and his wife Shannon currently live. They have five children: Sam, Gracie, Charlie, Sophie and Miles.
[10]
Millard's mother Adele left him with his
abusive
father when he was just a boy. They have since reconciled, and she died in July 2022.
[11]
Arthur Wesley Millard Jr., Bart's father, abused him as a boy. However, Arthur became a
Christian
later in life. He and Bart made amends before Arthur died of
pancreatic cancer
in 1991.
[12]
[13]
Discography
[
edit
]
Albums
[
edit
]
Guest appearances
[
edit
]
Year
|
Artist
|
Album
|
Song
|
2002
|
Steven Curtis Chapman
,
Out of Eden
,
Jennifer Knapp
,
Jeremy Lubbuck
Jody Moreing,
Lila McCann
,
Joy Williams
, Jody Moreing, and
Warren Ham
|
Let's Roll: Together In Unity, Faith, and Hope
|
"The Lords Prayer" "To You Be the Glory"
|
2004
|
Third Day
and Steven Curtis Chapman
|
The Passion of the Christ: Songs
|
"I See Love"
|
2007
|
Phil Wickham
|
Cannons
|
"The Light Will Come"
|
2009
|
Heaven & Earth
|
"
Safe
"
|
2011
|
Apostles Church
|
Love Came Through
|
"Jesus, Name Above All Names"
|
2012
|
Big Tent Revival
|
The Way Back Home
|
"The Weight"
|
2013
|
Hawk Nelson
|
Made
|
"Words"
|
2014
|
Francesca Battistelli
,
Jamie Grace
,
Jeremy Camp
,
Matt Maher
, and Dave Frey
|
non-single album
|
"Hope Can Change Everything"
|
2018
|
Citizen Way
|
Love Is A Lion
|
"WaveWalker"
|
2018
|
Ryan Stevenson
|
No Matter What
|
"
No Matter What
"
|
2019
|
Gloria Gaynor
|
Testimony
|
"He Won't Let Go"
|
TobyMac
|
The St. Nemele Collab Sessions
|
"Overflow (Willyecho Remix)"
|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Christian Music Review.
"Bart Millard biography"
. Archived from
the original
on April 29, 2012
. Retrieved
April 21,
2012
.
- ^
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/i-can-only-imagine-bart-millard/1007070742
I Can Only Imagine
by Bart Millard. "On December 1, 1972, I came into the world."
- ^
Brad Schmitt,
"MercyMe's Bart Millard thought his father was going to kill him"
,
Tennessean
, February 13, 2018. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
- ^
"MercyMe - Album Discography - AllMusic"
.
AllMusic
. Retrieved
April 25,
2018
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
Breimeier, Russ (October 6, 2008).
"Reimagining the Hymns"
.
Christianity Today
. Retrieved
April 22,
2012
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Greer, Andrew (August 26, 2008).
"Bart Millard: The Solo Side, Take Two"
.
Crosswalk
via Christian Music Planet
. Retrieved
April 22,
2012
.
- ^
Evans Price, Deborah (August 23, 2005).
"Bart Millard: MawMaw's Boy"
.
Crosswalk
. Retrieved
April 22,
2012
.
- ^
Christianity Today
(January 1, 2006).
"Best Artists of 2005"
.
Christianity Today
. Retrieved
April 22,
2012
.
- ^
Christianity Today
(January 1, 2006).
"The Best Christian Albums of 2005"
.
Christianity Today
. Retrieved
April 22,
2012
.
- ^
K-LOVE
(July 23, 2012).
"Talking with Bart Millard: Kids & Insane Family Moments"
.
Educational Media Foundation
. Retrieved
April 22,
2014
.
- ^
Law, Jeannie Ortega; Reporter, Christian Post (July 12, 2022).
"MercyMe's Bart Millard speaks of mom's passing, says they made amends over abusive childhood"
.
www.christianpost.com
. Retrieved
March 31,
2024
.
- ^
Schmitt, Brad.
"MercyMe's Bart Millard thought his father was going to kill him"
.
The Tennessean
. Retrieved
March 31,
2024
.
- ^
Mehrotra, Kriti (December 7, 2023).
"What Happened to Bart Millard's Dad? How Did He Die?"
.
The Cinemaholic
. Retrieved
March 31,
2024
.
- ^
"Billboard 200"
.
Billboard
. Retrieved
April 13,
2020
.
- ^
"Top Christian Albums"
.
Billboard
. Retrieved
April 13,
2020
.
- ^
"Heatseekers Albums"
.
Billboard
. Retrieved
April 13,
2020
.
External links
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]
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International
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Other
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