About NewSong 2

"We've tried to be faithful to our mission – to tell people about our relationship with Christ – since the beginning. I remember thinking, even before we started NewSong, that it'd be great to have a group of real guys that you could relate to, get up on stage, hold an audience's attention with great music and then share how to come to know Christ. Even though we love the music, the ministry part of what we do is the main focus."

Indeed, try getting Eddie or Billy to reflect on NewSong's notable success – the 20 #1 radio singles, numerous awards, and national television appearances are the tip of the iceberg – and they'll immediately take you back to what matters most, their mission. Even from the outside looking in, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that a heart for evangelism has always defined what they do. And that, perhaps more than anything, makes their repeated achievements – including some absolute stunners – so extraordinary.

Believe it or not, as an afterthought, NewSong recorded what would become not only the biggest song of its career, but one of America's most beloved Christmas standards. Mainstream stations took the song to #1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, and the crossover hit, which also invaded the country charts, touched off a dramatic domino effect that continues to this day. Highlights include a series of New York Times best-selling novels by Donna VanLiere, and two top-rated CBS television movies based on the books and featuring music from NewSong. (CBS' The Christmas Blessing was television's most-watched movie in 2005.) VanLiere's fifth novel in the series, NewSong's seasonal recordings have called for a major Christmas tour each year, and the band has been happy to oblige.

When the group introduced its annual "Winter Jam Tour Spectacular" in 1995, NewSong started to change the public face of Christian music. The mega-event on wheels has become one of the gospel music world's biggest annual tours, with some history-making moments along the way—like setting a record in 1999 for the largest attended indoor event in South Carolina's history.

"We wanted to do a concert in Greenville, South Carolina, and had already played the larger churches in the area, so we asked the promoter about the BI-LO Center," recalls Eddie. "It was fairly short notice, and he explained the only dates he had open were in January. The promoter also said he had never filled the 15,000-seat venue with a Christian event, and that a January date wouldn't give him enough lead time to sell tickets in advance." Well, that settled that. "Yep, we told him we didn't want to sell tickets anyway and decided to take donations at the door," Eddie says. "The night of the concert, when they finally closed the doors, they had to turn 2,000 people away. The place was jam-packed – it was an unbelievable night."

To this day, NewSong's multi-artist, ticketless concerts give thousands the opportunity not only to hear incredible music but, of course, to also hear the Gospel message. During 2009's Tour, more than 69,000 Winter Jam attendees made either a first-time commitment to follow Christ or rededicated their lives to Him. More than 335,000 fans attended the 35 dates of the 2009 Spectacular, ranking it among the largest tours of any kind during the year's first quarter, according to Pollstar. Among its most impressive feats, NewSong's accessible brand of modern pop has long held the rapt attention of diverse audiences, which include pre-teens, grandparents, and everyone in between. In addition to founding the "Winter Jam Tour Spectacular," NewSong organizes another series of annual events, which specifically target youth. Today, the band hosts five Xtreme Conferences each year with as many as 25,000-plus youth in attendance.

NewSong's burden for youth extends beyond its primary goals of evangelism and encouraging discipleship, especially where abandoned and underprivileged children are concerned. For many years, the band partnered with World Vision, the evangelical relief organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide in tackling poverty and injustice. Then, in 2006, NewSong decided to focus its social justice efforts specifically on helping orphans through adoption. "We partnered with Holt International, which specializes in adoption and child welfare around the world," explains Eddie. "By that time, Holt had already placed more than 50,000 children in loving homes, and had done all that under the radar. It's been a real honor to come alongside them and tell others about them through our tours." Winter Jam 2009, alone, resulted in the sponsorship of more than 4,600 children through Holt.