Michael W. Smith Biography

Fast Facts

• CCM Magazine named his song "Friends" the No․ 1 Song of All Time
• Has achieved 28 No․ 1 hit songs and won more than 40 Dove Awards during his career
• Struggled with a drug addiction after high school and suffered a mental breakdown
• Worked as a staff writer for Meadowgreen Music in 1981, writing gospel songs for artists like Amy Grant, Sandi Patti, and Bill Gaither
• He began his career as a keyboardist for the Christian music group Higher Ground in 1979
• Quote: "I'm still on this journey like we all are, but I'm less concerned about what people think about me more than ever today, which is a really very freeing place․ I don't have to win another award ․․․ I feel like I'm sort of set free․"
• Quote: "[on his album "Freedom"] "Someone once said, 'After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music․' I think there is a lot of truth in that ․․․ just expressing myself musically, without the limits of lyrics or time․""
• Best known as a contemporary Christian musician who had a hit with "Place in this World" in 1991
• Was the first musician allowed to perform a Christian concert in Bahrain, which he visited on his world tour