Steven Curtis Chapman has made history with his latest single, “Don’t Lose Heart.” The 60-year-old is celebrating his 50th No. 1 hit with the song, something that no other Christian artist has done, until now.
“I’m completely blown away by the support for this song and for my music, even after so many years,” Chapman exclaims. “To ever have a number one song at radio as an artist/songwriter is a dream come true, and to have fifty is simply unbelievable! This only happens because of an amazing team and a community of friends around me who have believed in the unbelievable. I’m grateful and humbled beyond words.”
Not only is Chapman the first Christian artist to have 50 chart-topping singles, only a handful of artists in other genres, including George Strait, Madonna and Conway Twitty, have achieved that milestone.
“Don’t Lose Heart” is the debut single from Chapman’s latest album, Still, released last October. In spite of his massive success in Christian music, the five-time Grammy winner admits he wasn’t sure fans would latch onto his latest project.
“I had to wrestle with a lot of doubts and a lot of insecurities about, do people really care or really want to hear new music from Steven Curtis Chapman?” Chapman concedes to Everything Nash. “There are amazing new artists that have come along in the last 35 years, not to mention in the last five years that people are very excited about and have things to say. And if they want to hear Steven Curtis Chapman, I hear a lot of people say, ‘Man, I just want to hear ‘Great Adventure.’ I want to hear ‘I Will Be Here.’ I wanna hear ‘Cinderella.’”
With his debut First Hand album out in 1987, Chapman has weathered a lot of highs and lows in the years since then, including adopting two girls, creating his Show Hope non-profit, hit singles and massive tours, the tragic loss of his daughter, Maria Sue, in 2008, and more. It was all of those combined experiences that ultimately convinced Chapman that he had more music to share with the world.
“I had to wrestle and push back a lot of those voices,” Chapman shares. “Because under all of that, I kept saying to myself, and I kept feeling very compelled that I have a perspective now of life, having walked through the devastating, tragic loss of our youngest daughter, having celebrated so much, with so many families through the miracle of adoption and the stories, the beautiful stories, the hard stories. All of that.”
Chapman just released a new version of “Don’t Lose Heart,” this one with Mitchell Tenpenny. His Still Tour begins on Friday, March 2. Find music and tour updates at StevenCurtisChapman.com.
Click here to subscribe to our YouTube channel.