• May 4, 1972
• Chris Tomlin was born on May 4th, 1972 in Grand Saline, Texas. When he was 11, Tomlin contracted infectious mononucleosis and was briefly bedridden. His father, Connie, brought him a guitar during this time, and Tomlin told us he learned to play to it by listening to Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Alabama records: "That was my early-early childhood music. I loved it. That's what my dad listened to, I just loved it. And so my first song I learned to play on guitar I think was 'Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,' or 'On the Road Again,' those kind of songs."
• Tomlin is a strict Christian and has been a worship leader all his adult life. Tomlin currently works alongside Passion Conferences, a Christian organization founded by Louie Giglio and Jeff Lewis that is "committed to spreading the fame of Jesus Christ to 16+ million college students of the nation and boundless others around the globe."
• In 2004, Tomlin released his breakthrough album, Arriving. This record produced four #1 singles: "Indescribable" (written by Laura Story), "Holy Is The Lord," "The Way I Was Made" and "How Great Is Our God." According to Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI), the latter track is the most popular worship song in the US today. In our interview, Tomlin told us he is continually surprised by the song's success: "I had no idea it would become such a song in the church, and a song that finds its way in so many different cultures, different languages. It's so transferable, so accessible. I had no idea that it would ever become that."
• Tomlin runs a popular website called FQWorship, which provides subscribers with instructional videos on how to play select worship songs, planning software, and multiple chord charts.
• Tomlin told us he is happy that his music has finally managed to bridge the gap between the radio and the church: "The thing I'm most proud of is the songs that find their way in the church... I love that songs find their way on the radio, as well. I think it can be both. I was pushing for that years ago and I just kept being turned down when I'd sing songs to radio. They were like, 'We don't play worship songs.' There wasn't this cohesion between what was happening in the church and what was happening on the radio. But now it's completely shifted."
• On June 14th, 2007, Tomlin's cover of "Indescribable" was used as the official wake-up call for NASA astronaut, Patrick Forrester, while he was on the Space Shuttle mission, STS-117.
• Tomlin married Lauren Bricken on November 9th, 2010. In September 2011, the couple announced the arrival of their first child, Ashlyn Alexandra Tomlin.
• In February 2012, Tomlin's seventh studio album, And If Our God Is For Us..., was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album. This was Tomlin's first ever Grammy.
• Tomlin's favorite Bible verse is Numbers 14:24.
• Chris Tomlin was named as the most sung artist in the world by CNN. According to Christian Copyright Licensing International, Tomlin's songs were sung 3.12 million times in churches in 2012, more than any other singer-songwriter.

Comments: 1

• AnonymousIndeed, he is my favorite artist and mentor.

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