Casting Crowns is a Grammy award and Dove Award winning Christian band that employs a soft rock music style. The band was created in 2003 by youth pastor Mark Hall at First Baptist Church Downtown Daytona Beach, Florida. He also serves as a lead vocalist. The band previously served and performed in a youth group in Atlanta, Georgia.
Discovered by, among others, contemporary Christian music legend Steven Curtis Chapman, Casting Crowns received a recording contract and vaulted to popularity in 2003 with their self-titled debut album Casting Crowns. The album quickly made them one of the fastest selling debut artists in Christian music history. Lifesong followed in 2005, debuting at #9 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart. Both albums have been certified Platinum. The band's third album The Altar and the Door debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart and #1 on the Hot Christian Albums chart upon its release in August of 2007. Ten weeks after it came out it was certified Gold.
Casting Crowns has enjoyed tremendous success in the United States. They have released eight singles to date, seven of which have become consecutive number one hits on various Christian music charts. "Voice of Truth" spent a record-breaking fourteen consecutive weeks at #1 beginning in 2003. “Lifesong” spent nine weeks in the top spot, with “Praise You In This Storm” remaining at #1 for seven weeks. Casting Crowns broke their own record in 2007 when the single "East To West" from The Altar and the Door hit sixteen consecutive weeks at #1. The song ended up enjoying the top spot for a total of nineteen weeks, now their most successful single to date.
