Crowder

A Texas-based CCM singer/songwriter known for his wide-ranging fusion of pop, rock, folk, electronic, bluegrass, and hip-hop, David Crowder rose to success in the early 2000s as the leader of the praise & worship group David Crowder Band. Over the next decade, the band racked up numerous Dove Awards for their inspirational rock sound, releasing popular albums like Illuminate (2003), Remedy (2007), and Give Us Rest (2012). Rebranding in 2012 simply as Crowder, the singer launched an equally successful, though more stylistically varied, solo career with 2014′s Top Ten-charting Neon Steeple. While no stranger to the top of the Christian albums chart, he had his first Billboard Hot Christian Songs number one with “Good God Almighty” from his fourth long-player, 2021′s Milk & Honey.
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, Texas, were not going to church. He began to actively recruit students for worship services and started writing songs to draw in more young people. He eventually started releasing the songs, leading to his debut album, 2002′s Can You Hear Us? The album was released under the name David Crowder Band, as Crowder was joined by guitarists Jack Parker and Jason Solley, drummer Jeremy Bush, bassist Mike Dodson, and electric violinist Mike Hogan. Their sophomore effort, Illuminate, appeared in the fall of 2003 and was followed a year later by The Lime CD, which comprised two earlier live releases (The Green CD and The Yellow CD) that had been given out to fans who had either pre-ordered prior albums or attended various release parties.
Sunsets & Sushi appeared in early 2005 before the band’s next studio album, the bluegrass-tinged A Collision, was issued that September. A spinoff of the latter album entitled B Collision, came out a year later and focused even more on the group’s immersion into bluegrass. Remedy saw release in 2007, followed by Church Music in 2009. Their third straight Christian number one, it climbed to number 11 on the Billboard 200. A four-song EP, Summer Happiness, featuring acoustic versions of songs from Church Music, appeared in 2010. Arriving in 2012, Give Us Rest; Or, A Requiem Mass in C (The Happiest of All Keys) was David Crowder Band’s sixth and final studio album. It went all the way to number two on the U.S. album chart.
It was followed in 2014 by Crowder’s solo debut, Neon Steeple, which arrived under the moniker Crowder. The album brought continued chart success, topping the Christian chart and reaching number nine on the Billboard Top 200 as well as earning a Grammy nomination for his song “Come as You Are.” He followed up in September 2016 with American Prodigal, another Christian number one; it peaked at 12 on the Billboard 200. Collaborating with Tauren Wells, Crowder landed a hit with the non-album single “All My Hope” in 2017. Continuing to branch out into a variety of musical styles, he issued I Know a Ghost in 2018, which pulled from electronic, bluegrass, and hip-hop influences. A Top Christian Albums number two, guests on that set included Wells and Mandisa. Maverick City Music joined him on pair of tracks from his fourth Crowder full-length and third Christian number one Milk & Honey. Released in 2021, it included the hit “Good God Almighty,” his first single to top the Hot Christian Songs chart. ~ Bradley Torreano