Biography

Although praise & worship band MercyMe was founded in 1994, vocalist Bart Millard says that the group's birth was a process God began in him during high school. Millard recalls, "My dad and my older brother were both football players. So naturally, that's what I wanted to do as well. But I broke both my ankles in a high school football game and that ended my career." Due to the injury, Millard was left with an elective class to fill and reluctantly joined the only available option: choir. With the prodding of his choir director, he was soon actively involved. During Millard's first semester in college, he was faced with the death of his father to cancer. The loss caused him to look for a change and a fresh start. Millard's youth pastor, who had recently moved from Millard's hometown of Greenville, TX, to Lakeland, FL, invited him to work with the youth praise band. He accepted the offer and moved at the end of his freshman year of college. Millard says that the praise band involvement marked "the first time I had ever done anything with a band — just a local youth group who played for a Wednesday night service. But I fell in love with it immediately." It wasn't long after that Millard became friends with keyboardist Jim Bryson. In the summer of 1994, the two traveled to Europe as part of a praise team. The trip caused Millard and Bryson to consider full-time music ministry. In August of 1994, guitarist Mike Scheuchzer made the duo a trio. The three, who now lived in Oklahoma City, formed MercyMe. From there the group begin to attract local promoters and found themselves opening for Audio Adrenaline. Following this, the band moved to Nashville, TN, and then to Texas. Their concerts grew to 200 dates per year. Bassist Nathan Cochran and percussionist Robby Shaffer joined the group, turning it from a trio into a five-member band. MercyMe, with six independent projects to their credit, signed with INO Records and released Almost There in August 2001. In 2003, the group was nominated for the Favorite Contemporary Inspirational Artist at the American Music Awards. MercyMe released Undone in 2004 and Coming Up to Breathe in 2006. In September 2007, the band embarked on a tour to promote All That Is Within Me, which was released in November that same year.

Top Albums
1. Don't Give U..	2. The Generous..	3. All That Is ..	4. The Christma..	5. Almost There
6. 10 (Deluxe V..	7. iTunes Origi..	8. The Hurt &am..	9. Spoken For	10. Coming Up to..
11. Coming Up to..	12. I Can Only I..	13. Undone	14. The Hurt &am..	15. Almost There..
16. Word of God ..	17. Finally Home..	18. Here With Me..	19. Bring the Ra..	20. Homesick - E..

Top Songs
	Name	Album	Time	Price
1.	I Can Only Imagine	Almost There	4:08	$1.29
2.	Hurt & The Healer	Hurt & The Healer - Sin..	4:52	$1.29
3.	Don't Give Up On Me	Don't Give Up On Me - S..	3:55	$0.99
4.	Move	Generous Mr. Lovewell	2:57	$1.29
5.	Beautiful	Generous Mr. Lovewell	4:21	$1.29
6.	All of Creation	Generous Mr. Lovewell	3:56	$1.29
7.	Word of God Speak	iTunes Originals - MercyMe	3:07	$1.29
8.	Finally Home	All That Is Within Me	3:30	$1.29
9.	Homesick	iTunes Originals - MercyMe	3:38	$1.29
10.	God With Us	All That Is Within Me	5:52	$1.29
11.	You Reign	All That Is Within Me	3:50	$1.29
12.	Spoken For	Spoken For	4:09	$1.29
13.	Bring the Rain (iTunes Originals Ver..	iTunes Originals - MercyMe	5:25	$1.29
14.	So Long Self	10 (Deluxe Version)	4:03	$1.29
15.	Here With Me	iTunes Originals - MercyMe	4:10	$1.29
16.	Bring the Rain	Coming Up to Breathe (Acous..	5:21	$1.29
17.	Word of God Speak	Spoken For	3:07	$1.29
18.	This Life	Generous Mr. Lovewell	3:34	$0.99
19.	I Worship You	Almost There	3:07	$0.99
20.	Free	Generous Mr. Lovewell	4:09	$0.99
21.	Bring the Rain	Coming Up to Breathe	5:30	$1.29
22.	Bring the Rain	10 (Deluxe Version)	5:30	$1.29
23.	Love of God	Spoken For	3:32	$0.99
24.	Hurt & the Healer	Hurt & the Healer (Perf..	4:50	$1.29
25.	Homesick	10 (Deluxe Version)	3:41	$1.29

Top Music Videos
1. I Can Only Ima..	2. I Can Only Ima..	3. I Can Only Ima..	4. Bring the Rain..	5. I Can Only Ima..
6. You Reign	7. So Long Self	8. God With Us	9. Finally Home	10. All That Is Wi..
11. I Can Only Ima..	12. I Can Only Ima..	13. Bring the Rain..	14. Gospel Music C..	15. The Story Behi..
16. In the Studio ..

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