Before going forward, let’s just take a quick look at what Christian music actually is and who you call a Christian singer.
Christian music can be defined as a genre of music that is written to convey one’s personal or religious beliefs on Jesus and Christianity.
In simpler words, you can also call Christian music “religious music,” and one who presents these religious songs is called a Christian singer.
The whole point of all this, in my opinion, is to persuade people closer to Christianity while giving these people what they actually want.
So, without further ado, let’s talk about the best Christian singers in the industry. And, yes, I have already talked about the best Christian Rappers. Check it out.
Table of Contents
Carrie Underwood
I am starting things off with one of the most talented Christian singers in the industry, Carrie Underwood, who is 39 years old.
Carrie was born on the 10th of March 1983 in Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA. Her complete name is Carrie Marie Underwood.
She participated in the famous singing show American Idol, and she won. That is how she gained her early fame. To her, winning the singing show meant she would be a great singer.
This Christian singer spent most of her early life in Checotah, Oklahoma. Her family was a middle class one, as her dad was a worker in a paper mill and her mom was a teacher.
At first, she used to sing in a church near her home. In my opinion, that is how she got interested in Christian music and wanted to become a singer.
When she was just fourteen, during the time she sang in the church, some people became her fans, and one of her fans offered her an opportunity to go to Nashville, Tennessee. Why?
To audition for the Capitol Records. She did exceptionally well in the auditions, but to her surprise, at that time, the Capitol Records administration changed and halted her contract.
So, Carrie couldn’t work for the Capitol Records. But, she doesn’t see this event as a failure but just a part of destiny.
Underwood may be a great and successful Christian singer today, but at one point, she got so fed up with this that she decided not to become a singer at all, let alone a Christian one.
That is because her grades in school were great. For that reason, she decided to pursue higher studies and got a bachelor’s degree in mass communication.
Anyways, these were the early circumstances before she officially became a singer in 2005, and the same year, her first album, “Some Hearts,” was released.
Her 2nd studio album was “Carnival Ride,” which came out in 2007, two years after her debut album. Her 3rd album was “Play On,” which was released in 2009.
Throughout her musical career, she has given out nine studio albums. Her 4th studio album was “Blown Away,” “Storyteller” her 5th, and “Cry Pretty” was her 6th album.
Carrie’s Instagram following: 11.1 million+
Spotify monthly listeners: 8.3 million+
SoundCloud following: 488,000+
Lauren Daigle
The second great Christian singer on this list is Lauren Daigle, whose real name is Lauren Ashley Daigle. She is 30 years old.
Lauren’s birth date is the 9th of September 1991, and she hails from Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA. She has lived most of her early life in the same state.
At a young age, she was exposed to many music genres, like zydeco, blues, and Cajun, and that is why she got obsessed with singing.
In her mind, she had already become a successful Christian singer, and in reality, it was just a matter of time and destiny, of course.
Her obsession with music was so high that her mom began calling their house a “music box.” I am using the word “obsession” because she was pretty little to have a singing “passion” at that time.
Later, of course, it became a passion. Had it not become her passion, would the Christian music industry be a little different? What do you think?
Yet again, destiny took her where she was meant to be. When she was fifteen, she caught a viral disease; thus, she couldn’t attend school during this situation.
While at home, Lauren started taking voice and music lessons. But still, instead of becoming a singer, she was interested in becoming a doctor, and she did.
Lauren also participated in the American Idols show twice, but, unfortunately, she couldn’t win the show. After that, she tried her luck in Hollywood but couldn’t succeed there either.
“How Can It Be” was Daigle’s 1st album, which came out on the 14th of April 2015 by working with Centricity Music. This album even topped the Billboard chart.
Then on the 21st of October 2016, this Christian singer gave out her 2nd studio album, “Behold: A Christmas Collection.”
And by far, her latest studio album was “Look Up Child,” which came out on the 7th of September 2018 by working with Centricity Music.
Daigle’s Instagram following: 2.2 million+
Spotify monthly listeners: 4.4 million+
SoundCloud following: 28,000+
Lecrae
This Christian singer is 42 years old. Lecrae’s complete name is Lecrae Devaughn Moore. His birthday falls on the 9th of October, and his birth year is 1979.
He hails from Houston, Texas, USA. Lecrae is also a famous Christian rapper, record producer, actor, and, yes, an entrepreneur.
Lecrae created the famous label, Reach Records. He is also the president of the label. Moore is married to Darragh Moore, and they have three kids.
I found out that he used to live only with his mom. Now I don’t know whether she got separated from Lecrae’s drug-addict dad or he left her himself. What do you say?
While living with his mom, he spent most of his early days moving from and to three U.S. states: California, Colorado, and Texas.
This Christian singer was born into a religious Christian family. So, being born into a Christian family comes with some “religious activities.”
These activities involved going to church every week. But he didn’t like it that much, though. He used to call church an older people’s place, not for the younger ones, especially for himself.
When he was eight, he says a female babysitter tried sexually harass him. Furthermore, he adds that this event changed his view about sex and sexuality.
To escape from these thoughts and to make a significance in the society, he got interested in rap music, but his family didn’t like this idea much and tried to stop him from listening to these kinds of music.
Of course! They couldn’t stop him because those artists that he used to listen to were the ones who he could look up to as an inspiration.
The resistance from family grew exponentially, as they did not want their family member to do something “unreligious.”
Once, his uncle even pointed a gun at him. So, you can guess what he could do at that time. He made some gangster buddies and got involved in their doings (crimes).
And, once, got arrested. He became an addict, and some reliable sources say that he took every drug there was, with the exception of heroin and cocaine.
So, after many wrong decisions and doings, he decided to let go of all this and devote his life to Jesus. He mixed his singing talent and devotion and became a Christian singer in 2004.
While working with his own label, Reach Records, “Real Talk” came out in 2004, which was his 1st studio album. “After The Music Stops” was his 2nd album.
“Rebel,” “Rehab,” “Rehab: The Overdose,” and “Gravity” were his 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th studio albums, released in 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2012, respectively.
Lecrae’s Instagram following: 1.9 million+
Spotify monthly listeners: 2.1 million+
SoundCloud following: 37,600+
Nívea Soares
Nívea’s complete name is Nívea da Costa Pinto Soares. She was born on the 25th of July 1976 in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
She is a Brazilian by nationality, and that is where she gained her initial fame. This Christian singer is 45 years old.
From the beginning, she loved music and dreamt of performing in front of a large crowd of fans chanting her name, praising her, and rooting for her.
Moreover, she was born in a religious Christian family, and that is why religion has always been an essential part of her life.
Soares’ quest to become a singer is an interesting yet simple one, as she didn’t face any kind of big troubles in her childhood; no trauma, abuse, and anything else, or at least, that is what she wants everybody to think.
Nívea is a T. V. presenter, writer, and songwriter, too. You might be thinking, if she had a simple and normal childhood, then what makes her journey an “interesting one?”
See, I have written about many singers, rappers, Christian rappers, mumble rappers, and underground rappers before, and almost all of them faced some kind of hardship in their childhoods or initial days as artists.
If, apparently, she did not have to go through all of that, wouldn’t this make her journey interesting or, should I say, unique?
Anyways, she began doing this 24 years ago in 1997, and six years later, “Reina Sobre Mim,” her first album, came out in 2003.
“Enche-me de Ti” was his 2nd album. “Fan The Fire,” “Rio,” “Acústico,” and “Emanuel” are her 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th studio album, released in 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010, respectively.
Soares’ Instagram following: 2 million+
Spotify monthly listeners: 1.2 million+
SoundCloud following: Almost 3,000
Kari Jobe
This Christian singer’s complete name is Kari Brooke Jobe. She was born on the 6th of April 1981 in Waco, Texas, USA.
She is around 41 years old. I think there’s a specialty that is only limited to these singers, that they start too early. I mean, she has been singing since she was three.
Who does that? Let me ask you, do you remember what you used to do when you were three or even five? Probably not!
At an age where you don’t have the sense of your clothes, right or wrong, sleeping, eating or stuff like that, Kari Jobe and many other singers were literally singing, or at least, this is what they have told us.
She accepted Christianity when she was five years old. Besides singing, she was pretty good at her studies, as she has degrees in pastoral studies and psychology.
In 2003, she joined the music industry as a Christian singer, and it took six years to give out her 1st album, “Kari Jobe,” on the 10th of February 2009.
Then, after three years, “Where I Find You” was released in 2012 on the 24th of January. “The Garden” is her third album, released on the 3rd of February 2017.
Kari’s Instagram following: 1.4 million+
Spotify monthly listeners: Almost 2 million.
SoundCloud following: 5,300+
Evan Craft
Evan sings both in the Spanish and English language. His birthday falls on the 8th of April.
His birth year is 1991. Craft hails from Conejo Valley, California. His complete name is Evan Kenneth Craft. Just like many other Christian singers, Evans learned to play the guitar at a young age.
Precisely, his age was twelve at that moment, and that is when he became a songwriter. However, he was born in California, USA; he completed his studies in both Spain and Costa Rica.
After passing out of school, he went to a high school. There, alongside his studies, he used to write songs. Music and singing became his passion.
Since then, he tirelessly worked on his passion and released many studio albums. Not only in the USA, but he also went to many countries to learn about many different cultures and music.
In 2010, he joined the American music industry as a Christian singer and began working hard on his debut album, “Spotlight.” It came out the same year, in 2010.
He has been married to Rachel Jacoby since the 17th of September 2021 (almost a year). Anyways, his second album was “Giant,” which was released in 2012.
Apparently, “Yo Soy Segundo” is his 1st album and 3rd studio album. Throughout his career, he has released nine albums so far.
Evan’s Instagram following: 1.3 million+
Spotify monthly listeners: 1.3 million+
SoundCloud following: 13,500+
Chris Tomlin
This Christian singer was born on the 4th of May 1972 in Grand Saline, Texas, USA. He is 49 years old. Christopher Dwayne Tomlin is his complete name.
It was his dad who put his trust in him and knew about his son’s potential. So, he brought him a guitar and taught him to play it.
He came closer to Christian music when he was fourteen years old. He formed a group of Christian singers when he was in high school.
But, more than becoming a singer, he wanted to pursue his career in the medical field. So, that is how he became a Christian music artist.
Nonetheless, he never compromised on his studies and graduated from university, and officially, he started doing all this after his graduation.
He joined the music industry as a Christian singer in 1993, one year after his graduation in 1992. He and Lauren Bricken have been married for more than 12 years, and they have three kids.
Before giving out his commercial studio albums, he released three independent solo albums. Those independent albums are: “Inside Your Love,” which was released in 1995, “Authentic” in 1998, and “Too Much Free Time” in 1998.
Then, his 1st commercial album was “The Noise We Make,” which came out in 2001. His second album was “Not to Us,” released in 2002.
Chris’ Instagram following: 1.2 million+
Spotify monthly listeners: 2.8 million+
SoundCloud following: 17,000+
TobyMac
TobyMac is 57 years old in 2021 and going to be 58 soon. He was born on the 22nd of October 1964 in Fairfax, Virginia, USA.
Kevin Michael McKeehan is his real name. Besides being a Christian singer, he is also a rapper and songwriter.
By working with his buddy, Michael Tait, he created DC Talk. Their other friend, Kevin Max Smith, joined their group later on.
This Christian singer has won seven Grammy awards so far, and many of his albums and songs have topped the Billboard chart many times.
Their group, DC Talk, was working just properly, and they had released many singles and albums together. But in 2001, for some reason, the DC Talk was dispersed.
All these three Christian singers went on to pursue their careers independently. He has been at it since 1987, and he released his 1st album, “Momentum,” in 2001.
“Welcome To Diverse City,” “Portable Sounds,” “Tonight,” and “Christmas In Diverse City” are his 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th albums, which were released in 2004, 2007, 2010, and 2011, respectively.
TobyMac’s Instagram following: 1.1 million+
Spotify monthly listeners: 4.4 million+
SoundCloud following: 28,000+
Tauren Wells
Tauren Gabriel Wells is his complete name. His birth date remains unknown to this date, but he was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, USA.
Because his birth date is not known, it is pretty difficult to comment on his age. But by looking at him, he looks like he is in his 20s or 30s.
Throughout his career, he has worked with Reunion Records, and by working with them, he has released many songs and other mixtapes.
Songs like “Undefeated,” “Love Is Single,” “Undefeated EP,” “Hills and Valleys,” and many others. In 2004, he joined the industry as a Christian singer.
“Hills and Valleys” was his 1st album, which was released on the 23rd of June 2017. “Citizen Of Heaven” was his second, and “Joy In The Morning” was his third and, by far, his latest album.
Tauren’s Instagram following: 660,000+
Spotify monthly listeners: 1.8 million+
SoundCloud following: 5,200+
Phil Wickham
And lastly, the last Christian singer on this list is Phil Wickham, who is 38 years old. His birth date is the 5th of April and birth year is 1984.
Phil hails from San Diego, California, USA. Philip David Wickham is his complete name. He was born in a Christian home.
Phil’s parents were pretty religious, and he picked up a thing or two from them, as his dad is a worship leader. His parents were also involved in Christian music.
Later, he came to California to start his musical career, and that is when he gave out his 1st/debut album, “Give You My World,” in 2003.
“Phil Wickham,” “Cannons,” “Heaven & Earth,” “Response,” and “The Ascension” are his 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th albums, which came out in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2013, respectively.
Phil’s Instagram following: 561,000+
Spotify monthly listeners: 2.3 million+
SoundCloud following: 3,400+
Conclusion
A contrast between Christianity and music is an art, and these Christian singers can be called artists. Among them, my favorite Christian singer is Carrie Underwood. Who is yours? Let me know in the comments. Thank you!
