Steven Curtis Chapman - Biography
By J Poet
Chapman is a Grammy winning Contemporary Christian Music singer/songwriter. He’s won more Dove Awards (51) and had more #1 singles than any other CCM artist, and also taken home five Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album Grammys. In 2000 he started crossing over to the pop mainstream with Declaration (1992 Sparrow.) He’s earned 10 gold records and a platinum album.
Steven Curtis Chapman was born in 1962 in Paducah, Kentucky. His dad was a guitar teacher and he grew up playing guitar and singing. He was pre-med at Georgetown College in Kentucky, but moved to Anderson College in Indiana to study music, dropping out and moving to Nashville to pursue his songwriting career. He got a job as a cast member in the Opryland USA stage show, and became successful when The Imperials, a country gospel group, cut his song ‘Built to Last.” Sparrow Records, a prominent Christian label, signed him to a publishing deal and placed his tunes with Sandi Patty, Billy Dean, Glen Campbell, and Roger Whittaker.
In 1984, while still a struggling songwriter, Chapman married Mary Beth Chapman. Shortly after getting pregnant with their first child, they returned home to find their apartment had burned to the ground. Sparrow signed him to a recording contract a few weeks later. His first album for the label First Hand (1987 Sparrow) included “Weak Days” which made it to #2 on the CCM chart. The album made it all the way to #2. His blend of folk, rock, country and pop stuck a nerve and Real Life Conversations (1988 Sparrow) included four hits including two #1s "His Eyes" and "My Turn Now." . "His Eyes" won a Dove Award for Song of the Year. And he was nominated for a Best Gospel Performance, Male Grammy.
More to This Life (1989 Sparrow) started his run of gold albums. For the Sake of the Call (1990 Sparrow) won a Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album Grammy and a gold record and The Great Adventure (1992 Sparrow) started his pop crossover success with another gold record, a Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album Grammy and a Best Video Grammy for the title track. The Live Adventure (1993 Sparrow) earned Chapman recognition as Songwriter of the Year and Artist of the Year from American Songwriter magazine as well as a Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album Grammy.
Heaven in the Real World (1994 Sparrow/Capitol) went platinum and that years’ Cash Box reader’s poll named him Artist of the Year. Signs of Life (1996 Sparrow) was gold, while Speechless (1999 Sparrow) went gold, then platinum, then won a fourth Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album Grammy. Declaration (2001 Sparrow) made it to #15 on the Hot 100, All About Love (2003 Sparrow), went gold and All Things New (2004 Sparrow) made it onto the upper reaches of the Hot 100 and took home another Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album Grammy. In 2004 Steven and Mary Beth started writing children’s books and have completed three: Shaoey And Dot: Bug Meets Bundle (2004), Shaoey and Dot: The Christmas Miracle (2005), and Shaoey and Dot: A Thunder and Lightning Bug Story (2006.) With his minister Scotty Smith, Chapman has written two adult inspirational books: Speechless (1999) and Restoring Broken Things (2005.)
Chapman’s acoustic five song CV/DVD Abbey Road Sessions came out on Sparrow in 2005 followed by All I Really Want for Christmas (Sparrow.) Sparrow released a two CD, 26 track, best of album, Now and Then in 2006.
Chapman became the first Christian artist to perform for U.S. troops serving in South Korea in 2006 and went on to stage the first gospel concert in Shanghai, China. He continued on to performances in to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Singapore. His most recent album is This Moment (2007 Sparrow.)
