Anyone heard of this guy?

[Livia]

Bill Gaither outsells FM

It's official. The Bill Gaither Tour for 2004 has outranked Rod Stewart, Elton John & Fleetwood Mac for concert tickets sold worldwide as reported to POLLSTAR for shows played between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2004, landing in the No 16 spot with an impressive 541,890 tickets sold.

[KateTheCursed]

If I'm not mistaken he's a gospel singer. There used to be (or maybe still are) Gaither family concerts. My grandparents are fans.

Of course I could be wrong and it might be someone else entirely.

[Mad4stevie]

Originally Posted by KateTheCursed

If I'm not mistaken he's a gospel singer. There used to be (or maybe still are) Gaither family concerts. My grandparents are fans.

Of course I could be wrong and it might be someone else entirely.

You are correct - it is a family of gospel singers.

[Livia]

Yeah, if you click on the link I provided, there is a long article about him - it says that he sings gospel. But has anyone heard of him?

[Mad4stevie]

Originally Posted by Livia

Yeah, if you click on the link I provided, there is a long article about him - it says that he sings gospel. But has anyone heard of him?

I have heard of him only because when I was a kid, my mom was the youth choir director at our church and I remember seeing some songbooks.

[wondergirl9847]

Gaither Vocal Band....yep, heard of them. Bill Gaither and his wife Gloria are very well known in the Christian/gospel music world. I believe Bill wrote "He Touched Me", which Elvis sang on one of his gospel albums.

[ontheEdgeof17]

Originally Posted by Livia

Yeah, if you click on the link I provided, there is a long article about him - it says that he sings gospel. But has anyone heard of him?

I've been to one of his shows.........years ago.

[sodascouts]

My parents love the Gaithers. I believe that this guy has actually gotten several songs of his put into the Baptist hymnal - not an easy task! In fact, he wrote one of the hymns I find most moving: "Because He Lives." My favorite part is the chorus: Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by Livia

Bill Gaither outsells FM

It's official. The Bill Gaither Tour for 2004 has outranked Rod Stewart, Elton John & Fleetwood Mac for concert tickets sold worldwide as reported to POLLSTAR for shows played between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2004, landing in the No 16 spot with an impressive 541,890 tickets sold.

Yep. Never saw a parking lot so full of Cadillac convertibles with magnetic support our troop bumper stickers.

[estranged4life]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

Yep. Never saw a parking lot so full of Cadillac convertibles with magnetic support our troop bumper stickers.

to OKC have ya? Gaither completely sold out the Ford Center (Except for the first ever show at the Ford Center in 2002 by the Eagles that had never been repeated).

Glad I made a mental note that day to avoid the downtown/Bricktown area.

(Just noticed Gaither is coming back to OKC on May 7...Must make ANOTHER mental note!)

[Sorcerer386]

Well you know, let's place Fleetwood Mac tickets at $18.75 to $48.75 and then see if this guy outsells them in quantity of tickets.

[Jessica Leigh]

Originally Posted by Sorcerer386

Well you know, let's place Fleetwood Mac tickets at $18.75 to $48.75 and then see if this guy outsells them in quantity of tickets.

that is exactly what i was going to say...

[JamieSPC]

Doesn't surprise me at all that he outsells lots of pop acts. He has a corner on the senior market. My wife's parents went to a Gaither show in B'ham and said they felt like they were the youngest ones there. They're in their 50s.

He's been writing music for going on 40 years and is still going strong. There's a DVD/CD industry behind these shows that you wouldn't believe. It also wouldn't surprise me if the Gaither CDs and DVDs outsold pop acts.

Gaither also isn't a "Christian" artist with any sights on branching out (a la DC Talk, Jars of Clay, Amy Grant, Scott Stapp, Lauryn Hill, etc.) into other types of music. Most young kids up to thirty-somethings in my church have never heard of him either. It's no wonder to me that most people haven't. He targets an older, affluent, very religious audience and targets it well.

~Jamie

[Brwn_eyes0511]

Originally Posted by Livia

Bill Gaither outsells FM

It's official. The Bill Gaither Tour for 2004 has outranked Rod Stewart, Elton John & Fleetwood Mac for concert tickets sold worldwide as reported to POLLSTAR for shows played between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2004, landing in the No 16 spot with an impressive 541,890 tickets sold.

Yea Bill Gaither is a southern gospel singer....and trust me, he does have A HUGE following!!!!

I LOVE Christian Music, but not big into the southern gospel stuff!

I'm more of an Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith kinda guy!

[wondergirl9847]

Originally Posted by Brwn_eyes0511

I'm more of an Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith kinda guy!

Amy and Michael are my fave Christian singers. Some of the Gaither stuff, I like, and Mark Lowry is hysterical. I can tolerate listening to The Cathedrals too, but other than that, no Southern gospel for me. Give me DC Talk, Jars of Clay, Newsboys, Petra...etc.