Steven Curtis Chapman

Steven Curtis Chapman (born November 21, 1962) is an American contemporary Christian music singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, author, and social activist.

Steven Curtis Chapman was born to Judy and Herb Chapman in Paducah, Kentucky, on November 21, 1962.

Chapman's father is a guitar teacher and owns a music store in Paducah; young Steven and older brother Herb Jr. grew up playing the guitar and singing.

After graduating from high school, Chapman enrolled as a pre-med student at Georgetown College in Kentucky.

After several semesters he transferred to Anderson College in Indiana, but soon dropped out and went to Nashville to pursue a career in music.

While in Nashville he briefly attended Belmont University.

He began working a music show at Opryland USA while dedicating time to songwriting.

Chapman began his career in the late 1980s as a songwriter and performer of contemporary Christian music and became the artist in Christian music with the most awards releasing over 25 albums.

He has also won five Grammy awards and 59 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, more than any other artist in history.

His seven "Artist of the Year" Dove Awards are also an industry record.

In the 1980s, Chapman wrote a song called "Built to Last", which was recorded by prominent gospel group the Imperials.

The strength of the song prompted him to be signed to a songwriting deal with Sparrow Records, where he rose to prominence.

In 1987, Chapman released his first album, First Hand.

The album included the song "Weak Days", which peaked at No. 2 on the Contemporary Christian Music chart.

In 1988, he followed with his second album, Real Life Conversations, which earned him four more hits, including the No. 1 song "His Eyes".

The song, which was co-written by James Isaac Elliott, earned the Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year award from the Gospel Music Association in 1989.

That year, he also won a GMA Award for Songwriter of the Year.

Next Chapman released more albums including More to This Life and For the Sake of the Call.

All of these albums featured several No. 1 singles and were awarded several GMA Awards.

The latter also gave Chapman his first Grammy in the Best Pop Gospel Album category.

These achievements strengthened his position in the Christian music scene.

In 1992, Chapman made a successful shift into a more mainstream audience with his album The Great Adventure.

The album garnered Chapman two more Grammys, for the album and for the title track video, again in gospel categories.

After Sparrow Records was purchased by EMI/Liberty, they began to market the album to a broader audience, pushing it to gold status in 1993.

The success of the album prompted Chapman To record one of his concerts and release it as The Live Adventure, both as a video and a CD.

This continuation won Chapman more GMA Awards, and also a new award from American Songwriter magazine for Songwriter and Artist of the Year.

Chapman continued to enjoy success with albums Heaven in the Real World, Signs of Life, and Speechless.

Chapman has also released four Christmas albums, beginning with 1995's The Music of Christmas.

In 2000, he provided the voice of Baloo in The Jungle Book Groove Party and reprised the role 22 years later in Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers.

In 2001 with the release of Declaration, Chapman got more attention in the Billboard 200.

That album, along with 2003's All About Love, peaked in the Top 15.

The follow-up, All Things New, peaked at No. 22.

In 2003 he released Christmas Is All in the Heart exclusively through Hallmark Gold Crown Stores and in 2005, he released All I Really Want for Christmas and finally Joy was released in 2012.

In 2006, Chapman toured several Asian countries.

His website says his concert for U.S. troops serving in South Korea was the first Christian concert ever performed for the troops in that country, and a concert in Shanghai, China, was "the first public performance by a Gospel recording artist event in the city open to China passport holders", and the third-largest concert in Shanghai that spring.

The tour also took the artist to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

During that time, his song "The Blessing" reached No. 1 on Thailand radio charts.

As of 2007, artists like Sandi Patty, Billy Dean, Glen Campbell, the Cathedral Quartet and Roger Whittaker have recorded Chapman's songs.

As of 2014, Chapman has sold more than 10 million albums and has 10 RIAA-certified Gold or Platinum albums.

Chapman has been a frequent guest performer at Walt Disney World, and has been a guest narrator for Disney's Candlelight Processional, most recently appearing in 2016, 2019, and 2021.