Michael W. Smith
Michael W. Smith
Michael W. Smith is an American musician who has charted in both contemporary Christian and mainstream charts. His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when “Place in This World” hit No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Over the course of his career, he has sold more than 18 million albums.
Smith is a three-time Grammy Award winner, an American Music Award recipient, and has earned 45 Dove Awards. In 1999, ASCAP awarded him with the “Golden Note” Award for lifetime achievement in songwriting, and in 2014 they honored him as the “cornerstone of Christian music” for his significant influence on the genre. He also has recorded 31 No. 1 Hit songs, fourteen gold albums, and five platinum albums. He has also starred in two films and published 14 books including This Is Your Time, which he worked with Christian author Gary Thomas to write.
From humble roots as a session musician and staff writer, Michael W. Smith grew an impressive and lasting career as one of Christian music’s most successful and enduring artists. On top of this the West Virginia native found mainstream success with a number of secular and adult contemporary releases including 1991’s crossover hit “Place in This World.” Throughout the 2000s, Smith was a dominant force in Christian music with a variety of live worship, instrumental, and CCM releases, most of which topped the Christian charts and made strong crossover showings on the Billboard 200.
Accolades ranging from Grammy Awards and nominations for a string of GMA Dove Awards paved the way to his 2009 induction into the Gospel Hall of Fame. The following decade proceeded much in the same way as he continued to release chart-toppers like 2014’s Sovereign, publish inspirational books, and act in the occasional film like 2015’s 90 Minutes in Heaven. Smith entered 2020 with Still, Vol. 1 and followed it a year later with a live sequel to his Worship album.