5th place: Micheal W Smith
hits: Friends, Place in this world, Secret ambition, Go West Young Man, This Is Your Time, and many many more.
I never really liked Smitty. His work always seemed super shallow to me, but I would be lying if I said he didn't have talent, and further that he has been a big influence. Friends, and Place in this world being his two biggest hits ever, I personally preferred his slightly deeper pieces such as: Secret Ambition.
Overall, his career has been filled with catchy pieces with just enough meaning that almost every album he has released has been a huge success.
4th Place: Steven Curtis Chapman
hits: Remember your chains, Dive, Great adventure, Lord of the Dance, Heaven in the real word, Live out Loud.
Unlike Smitty, Steven Curtis Chapman is an artist I actually like, just not love. His influence is just as big as Smitty, but evenly spread between pop and Country. for the longest time he was one of the few singers out there with both talent, and lyrical depth.
Steven's works such as Great adventure, and Dive made him one of the most fun pop singers to listen to. While others such as Remember your chains showed just how much depth he's had, and just how much he offers to the industry.
3rd Place: Petra
hits: Beyond Belief, Grave Robber, This Means War, Beat the System, Witch hunt, many more that I am not familiar with.
Petra is one of the few bands that can lose their original lead singer, and actually become more popular. First with Greg X Volts they took a genre that essentially had no talent, or so little that it's influence was nonexistent, and defined it single-handedly.
When Greg X Voltz and Petra split up, they got John Schlitt who had already been famous as lead singer of Head East before converting to Christianity. After his arrival they produced hits such as Beyond Belief, and This means war, and this success continued till the end of the 80s.
2nd place: Kutless
Hits: Shut me out, Sea of faces, Hearts of the innocent, Strong tower, Not what you see, Treason, What faith can do, and many others.
If Petra defined Christian rock, Kutless transformed it. Their influence has been felt everywhere in music, from Worship music, to hard rock, to Acoustic, Kutless has done it all, and has been one of the best behind their lead vocalist Jon Micah Sumrall.
While their first Album Kutless was a hit in the rock industry, it was Sea Of Faces that started their single handed change of Christian rock. Since then almost every album has been a success including their two Worship Albums.
And the best part is that Kutless does not seem to be seriously slowing down, they will continue to influence a previously starved Christian rock genre for years to come.
The Most Influential Band in Christian music is: Dc Talk
Hits: Jesus Freak, Colored People, Say the Words, Jesus is Just Alright, Into Jesus, Supernatural, Luv is a Verb, Between you and Me, Mind's Eye, What if I Stumble, Consume me
No band in Christian music has had more of an impact, and no band has changed more of our music than DC Talk. Their lyrics were the best, period. Their talent made secular equivalents sound just plain bad. They were that good.
They started out as a rap band, and stayed that way up to their Hit album Free at Last. Then out of the blue, they switched to Rock, and it wasn't a mistake at all.
They Released Jesus Freak, And the world has never been the same since. No Album, so SONG has changed Christian music more than Jesus Freak.
Then three years later Supernatural. Such a worthy successor to their first rock album, and then, suddenly out of the blue they broke up. The band still technically exists, they just are taking an extended break.
The band however STILL is changing the genre, Toby Mac is the king of Christian rap, Kevin Max is doing..... something, I know he still sings but I don't know what he does, and Micheal Tait is the lead Singer of the formerly Stagnating Newsboys. Their influence is still felt long after their break up, and I do not believe a band will EVER have more influence.
A note from my father, He believes, and I actually agree, that Steve Taylor should be on this list as an Honorable mention. His influence on music was large, and he turned the Newsboys into successful band.
