Although praise & worship band MercyMe was founded in 1994, vocalist Bart Millard says that the group's birth was a process God began in him during high school. Millard recalls, "My dad and my older brother were both football players. So naturally, that's what I wanted to do as well. But I broke both my ankles in a high school football game and that ended my career." Due to the injury, Millard was left with an elective class to fill and reluctantly joined the only available option: choir. With the prodding of his choir director, he was soon actively involved. During Millard's first semester in college, he was faced with the death of his father to cancer. The loss caused him to look for a change and a fresh start. Millard's youth pastor, who had recently moved from Millard's hometown of Greenville, TX, to Lakeland, FL, invited him to work with the youth praise band. He accepted the offer and moved at the end of his freshman year of college. Millard says that the praise band involvement marked "the first time I had ever done anything with a band -- just a local youth group who played for a Wednesday night service. But I fell in love with it immediately." It wasn't long after that Millard became friends with keyboardist Jim Bryson. In the summer of 1994, the two traveled to Europe as part of a praise team. The trip caused Millard and Bryson to consider full-time music ministry. In August of 1994, guitarist Mike Scheuchzer made the duo a trio. The three, who now lived in Oklahoma City, formed MercyMe. From there the group begin to attract local promoters and found themselves opening for Audio Adrenaline. Following this, the band moved to Nashville, TN, and then to Texas. Their concerts grew to 200 dates per year. Bassist Nathan Cochran and percussionist Robby Shaffer joined the group, turning it from a trio into a five-member band. MercyMe, with six independent projects to their credit, signed with INO Records and released Almost There in August 2001. In 2003, the group was nominated for the Favorite Contemporary Inspirational Artist at the American Music Awards. MercyMe released Undone in 2004 and Coming Up to Breathe in 2006. In September 2007, the band embarked on a tour to promote All That Is Within Me, which was released in November that same year. ~ Ashleigh Kittle, All Music Guide
You must be 18 or older in order to participate in the following states: Florida
By clicking the button above, you acknowledge that you are the account holder for the cell phone number entered and you expressly agree to these terms as well as the Thumbplay Terms & Conditions of Use Agreement and Privacy Policy.
Thumbplay Subscription Terms: Not all carriers support the Thumbplay service and you must be a customer of a supported carrier to subscribe. A phone with an Internet-enabled and SMS-enabled (short message service) account is required. Your password will be sent to your phone when you click the button above. After entering your password, you will be subscribed to Thumbplay and automatically charged $9.99 each month on your mobile phone bill, or deducted from your prepaid balance for 10 credits each month until such time as you cancel your subscription. Monthly credits expire at the end of each month and may not be rolled over into the following month. New subscribers will receive 10 bonus credits for use during the first month, as well as up to 4 additional credits to cover the cost of the first download. This offer is only available to first time customers of Thumbplay and can not be combined with any other offer. Message and data rates may apply for subscriptions, promotional text messages, and account related text messages. Taxes may also apply.
You may receive your password confirmation text message multiple times until you complete the sign-up process. If you would like to stop receiving the password confirmation text messages, please email us at passwordsms@thumbplay.com.
You may cancel your Thumbplay subscription by sending the words STOP from your mobile device to 48000 or by contacting us via email. Please direct all email inquiries to support@thumbplay.com. You may also call 1-877-THUMB-99 (1-877-848-6299) for questions regarding your account.
Thumbplay One-Time Purchase Terms: In certain instances, in lieu of a subscription you may have the opportunity to make a one-time purchase. In such case, the purchase price (from $0.99 to $5.99 per content item) for the content item you select will be charged to your mobile phone bill, or deducted from your prepaid balance. All messages and Content to Verizon Wireless customers will come from 48000. For information about single item purchases, text HELP to 21453. Text STOP to 21453 to stop messaging. (Verizon Wireless customers text to 48000). Message and data rates may apply. Taxes may also apply.
Games are not currently supported for Verizon Wireless customers.
By subscribing or making a one-time purchase from Thumbplay you expressly agree to receive promotional and account related communications by SMS and email, including our weekly newsletter. You may stop receiving promotional SMS text messages by clicking here and you may stop receiving promotional emails by clicking here.
Thumbplay ringtones and Thumbplay mobile ringtones are compatible with most current Motorola, Nokia, LG, Samsung, Panasonic and Sony Ericsson mobile/cell phones. Supported carriers include AT&T, T-Mobile®, Alltel, and Verizon Wireless.
On your phone visit m.thumbplay.com