Christian artists cashing in at secular venues
By Rosemary Jean-Louis
CNN Headline News
(CNN) -- Artists who sing the praises of a Higher Power are increasingly performing on the same stages as those who extol the virtues of fast cars and fast living, and they are making big bucks on those stages, too.
This past summer, Christian music acts such as Michael W. Smith and the group MercyMe played such secular stages as Radio City Music Hall. According to MercyMe member Bart Millard, the August 20 show was sold out. Millard equates those ticket sales to the uniqueness of his show.
"There are very few Christian concerts that make it to New York," Millard says. "There are places in the Bible Belt that saturate the markets where some people won't fill up the venues, because every other day there's a Christian show coming through. But in New York these shows are few and far between."
Overall, Michael W. Smith and MercyMe's "One Nation Tour," which also featured the David Crowder Band, did good business.
Gary Bongiovanni, editor in chief of Pollstar, a concert tracking publication, says the tour was No. 75 among this past summer's top-selling roadshows. It made $2.4 million.
One of the highest-grossing music tours of last year was a Christian act: Bill Gaither and Friends. Bongiovanni reports it amassed $13.2 million initially and continued the momentum over the summer by grossing $9 million.
Bongiovanni says a Christian act crossing over to secular theaters isn't a new phenomenon. He points to Amy Grant as being one of the first artists to make the leap.
But the artists are enjoying a lot more visibility outside of the usual church hall these days partly because major music store chains are carrying Christian music.
Millard says the triumph of the movie "The Passion of the Christ" at the box office had a positive effect on Christian concerts and music sales as well.
"I think "The Passion" [has] played a big part in people becoming aware. There are songs of ours that have made it into mainstream radio that I never thought would ever have a chance," Millard says.
Currently MercyMe's single "Here with Me" is No. 16 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Music charts, and band members are rubbing elbows with rappers and rockers as presenters at the 32nd Annual American Music Awards.
Other acts are gearing up for their busiest season of the year -- Christmas -- with albums and holiday-related shows.
