Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Hillary Scott, Jon Reddick & More Honor 75th Anniversary of Hymn 'How Great Thou Are' With Updated Version

In 1957, less than a decade after writer Stuart K. Hine wrote the 1949 hymn “How Great Thou Art,” singer George Beverly Shea introduced the song to US audiences during one of Billy Graham's crusades in New York's Madison Square Garden. According to the book by author Don Cusic The Sound of LightShea performed the song nearly 100 times during the 16-week crusade, which averaged 19,000 people each night.

Since then, “How Great Thou Art” has become one of the most well-known hymns, sung weekly in churches around the world and performed by notable artists such as Elvis Presley, who made the song the title track of his second gospel album. in 1967 and won two Grammys for his recordings of the song, including Best Inspirational Performance and Best Sacred Performance. In 2011, Carrie Underwood scored a hit with her version of the song and later included it on her 2021 gospel album. My savior. The song was included in a list of “365 Songs of the Century” released in 2001 by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.

To celebrate 75 years of “How Great Thou Art,” sixteen CCM and country artists came together to update the song with a new lyric and create “How Great Thou Art (Until That Day),” out today . Chris Tomlin (“Holy Forever,” “How Great Is Our God”), Matt Redman (“10,000 Reasons”), Lady A member Hillary Scott (“Thy Will”), Cody Carnes, Kari Jobe, solo artist and Maverick City Music Members Naomi Raine, TAYA, Ryan Ellis, Jon Reddick, Blessing Offor, Brian Johnson, Jenn Johnson, Matt Maher, Pat Barrett, Benjamin William Hastings and Mitch Wong joined to record the new version.

The Stuart Hine Trust, which owns and manages Hine's catalog, commissioned Redman, as well as writer-artist Wong (writer on CeCe Winans' Grammy-winning hit “Believe For It”) to create a new verse to the song, one that would give hope and appeal to current events. Maher and Steve Marcia produced the new version, with strings arranged by Tommee Profitt.

“Normally, you can't adapt that anthem,” says Redman Advertising sign. “There's a pattern with old hymns, if they're public, that we adapt them, add a chorus, rework them. But with How Great Thou Are, the Stuart Hine Trust is still the publisher and would normally refuse anyone who tried to tamper with it. So I was very surprised when they approached and said, “Would you like to write a new section?”

Hine wrote the song in 1949, although its origins date back to a Swedish hymn from the 1800s. Hine was a missionary in the 1930s, living and traveling in the Carpathian Mountains in Eastern Europe, which now includes Ukraine. Proceeds from the new version of the song will support humanitarian efforts to help those affected by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

“We tried to tie into the old lyrical structure, but with a melodic lift and words that said, 'Hey, we can't avoid or ignore that we live in a broken, warring world and we have to deal with it, but we'll also sing with hope,” says Redman, adding, “I feel like a little weird word, 'War,' to put in an anthem, but that's our reality, whether it's on a personal level or a national level, on a real war level, that's the world we live in. I don't want to sing a song that feels escapist or doesn't engage with reality.”

The artists gathered to record vocals at both Gold Pacific Studios in Los Angeles, as well as Nashville's RCA Studio B—the same Music City studio where Presley recorded his version of “How Great Thou Art” in 1966. “Matt Maher he got to play the piano on Elvis' version, so it was a very special full-circle moment,” notes Redman.

“I felt like we came up with a new approach that was very true to the old anthem,” says Redman. Tomlin begins the song with a solo vocal, followed by Scott. From there, the singers lend their vocals, sometimes solo and sometimes wrapped in harmonies, creating full vocal choruses. “The most wonderful thing for me was that all these people are fantastic singers. We'd have Naomi Raine sing and Kari Jobe and Blessing Offor, and then Hillary Scott comes in — I don't know how she carries that completely clear voice, but with that tiny edge. The vocals work so well together.”

Looking ahead to the song's 75th celebration^u anniversary, Redman says there could be additional versions of “How Great Thou Art” (including new lyrics) on the way: “The Stuart Hine Trust commissioned, I believe, an orchestral version, a choral version, which welcomes different versions of the new arrangement as a way of providing resources to the wider church”.