Ten years ago this week, the Top Christian songs in the charts came from one girl group, a popular pop band, an award-winning worship band, two young female artists, two up and coming male solo artists and three rock bands.
Where are they now?
Warren Barfield (#10) is still singing and will be sharing his new song, "It's All Good" in Lexingon, Kentucky on October 3rd and Jackson, Mississippi on October 5th.
Jaci Velasquez (#9) now a wife and mom of two little boys, is also still singing. Her next concert is scheduled for November 7th in Omaha, Nebraska.
Relient K (#8) released their latest album this past July and they have tour dates scheduled throughout the month of November. The band just celebrated 16 years in Christian music.
Switchfoot (#7) is still making music and catching waves in California. They just released a new EP, Fading West (ep) last month and have a new full-length album in the works.
Newsboys (#6) is still winning awards and staying on the road more than they're at home. However, since 2003, they have had a major personnel change - Peter Furler stepped into a solo career in 2009 and Michael Tait, one of the founders of dcTalk, stepped up to the mic.
Chris Rice (#5) was extraordinarily popular as an artist and a songwriter in 2003 and that trend continued for several years. In late 2008, he appeared to have dropped off of the face of the planet. His websites stopped being updated and fans around the world started asking, "What happened to Chris Rice?" He stayed off of the radar until June of this year and then he very quietly turned back up on the internet. His blog started getting updates in June of this year. He's been busy painting and writing poetry.
Stacie Orrico (#4) was only 17 when her song "More To Life" was all over MTV as much as Christian radio. After the huge success of the album (over 3.4 million albums sold), she took a break from music to figure out who she was and what she wanted out of life until 2006. Her return was shortlived as her label merged and left her without a contract. The next few years, her love affair with music was on again off again. An independant single came out in 2012 but since then, there has been no new music.
SONICFLOOd (#3) has undergone member changes more than once since 2003. Rick Heil has seen four bass players, five drummers, three keyboard players and five guitar players in the line-up over the past ten years. He has also seen God work a miracle in his own life. Diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease when he was only 11, Heil had already undergone multiple surgeries, losing eight feet of his intestines along the way. By 2004, his symptoms were so bad that he was no longer able to eat any food by mouth. All of his nutrients had to come through an IV. When the doctors said that there was nothing more they could do short of removing more intestine, leaving him unable to eat for the rest of his life, he gave it all to Jesus. A second opinion led to a surgery to remove scar tissue and that is where the surgeon, a Christian himself, found no signs of Crohn's Disease at all. The miracle of complete healing means Rick has no more pain and is able to eat regular foods without any help from medications at all.
MercyMe (#2) was already very well known in 2003 because "I Can Only Imagine" had been played on both Christian and mainstream radio in record numbers. Since then, they've sold over 6 million albums, produced over 20 #1 hits and hit RIAA Gold or Platinum time and time again.
ZOEgirl was at #1 in 2003. Within the next three years, they announced they were taking a break. In 2008 they popped up for nearly two years as COLMANblue (sans Alisa Childers) and then dropped off of the radar again. In 2011, they said they might reunited for a lullaby album, but thus far, nothing more than a placeholder page at ZOEgirlMusic.com has turned up.
