Founded in 1994, MercyMe is an active and versatile band with tremendous Christian pop and heavy metal success to their credit. Hailing from Texas, MercyMe includes Bart Millard, the lead vocalist and head of the band, James Bryson, the keyboard player, Robby Shaffer, the percussion specialist, Nathan Cochran, the bass specialist, and Michael and Barry Graul, the two guitarists as part of the team. Together, MercyMe produced noteworthy albums with singles that peaked at the top slot consecutively 13 times at the Billboard ratings, was nominated for the Grammys and won the GMA Dove plenty of times.

Background

It took two years for MercyMe to come up with their first album ‘Almost There’ in 2002. However, with the single ‘I can only imagine’ earning them their first award at the GMA Dove, the wait was well worth it. It was their next album that began showing them commercial success with ‘Spoken For’ and ‘Undone’ peaking at the top 5 in the Billboard ratings. The success of both these albums began affecting the sales of the first album ‘Almost there’ as well, and it was classified the Double Platinum with sales crossing two million worldwide. MercyMe, finally proved their mettle with Christian pop and started venturing deeper into heavy metal and jazz in their albums, which their audience lapped if the Billboard ratings are anything to go by.

‘The Christmas Sessions’ and ‘Coming Up to Breathe’ were the next two major releases that continuously peaked at the top slots at the Billboard ratings 200 and competed with each other, while the band members joked about ‘letting the best won win’. ‘So Long Self’, ‘Bring the rain’ and ‘Hold fast’ were eminent singles from these albums, which instantly became chartbusters. The album ‘Coming up to breathe’ was such a rage that the band decided to cash in on the popularity by organizing a ‘Coming up to breathe tour’ across the US with several other band members and artistes in tow.

In the recent years, the band has decreased on quantity and focused more on quality, with ‘All that is within me’, ‘The Generous Mr. Lovewell’ and ‘Hurt and Healer’ being cult releases from 2009 to 2012. ‘Hurt and Healer’ was released only a certain while ago and has already become a rage.

If you are interested in knowing more about MercyMe and their tours and schedules, you are requested to visit their website for firsthand information on their concerts and ticket sales. Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are excellent sources of contact with the band as well.