Several months after attending her first concert, a sold-out Forrest Frank show in West Valley City, Utah, what stands out most to 14-year-old Hazel Church isn’t the music — though she’s a big fan of the Christian pop artist, and has been for a while.
Instead, the teenager from Provo, Utah, talks about the atmosphere.
“I get overwhelmed in spaces with a lot of people, big spaces, but when I was there, it was a different feeling,” she said of the May 3 concert at the Maverik Center. “Being in a room with so many people who are Christians, and they believe in God, and they came to worship him … it’s just such a different feeling. And the fact that (Frank) got so many people to just gather together to listen to his music was really cool to me. It just felt really inspiring.”
Frank’s sold-out Utah show sold more than 9,500 tickets, Jeff Davis, general manager of the Maverik Center, told the Deseret News.
Six months later, Brandon Lake, another prominent contemporary Christian artist, also sold out the West Valley City venue, pointing to a significant shift in the music industry this year.
“The Maverik Center team was excited to host two of the largest names in contemporary Christian music this past year,” Davis shared with the Deseret News in a statement. “Contemporary Christian music is experiencing a rise in popularity, and we look forward to bringing more of the genre to the region in the future.”
Both Frank and Lake saw their fame surge in 2025.
Frank’s hit “Your Way’s Better” claimed the No. 2 spot on Billboard’s year-end top 10 Hot Christian Songs. It went viral on TikTok and became a crossover hit, at its peak reaching No. 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
At the same time, Lake’s “Hard Fought Hallelujah” also charted on the Hot 100 and peaked at No. 40. Billboard named it the No. 1 Hot Christian Song of the year.
It marks the first time in 11 years that two contemporary Christian music songs charted simultaneously for weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, per NPR. The last time came in 2014 with Carrie Underwood’s “Something in the Water” and Craig Wayne Boyd’s rendition of “The Old Rugged Cross.”
But this time around, the two songs had greater staying power.
“This is the most exciting time to be in Christian music,” Holly Zabka, president of Provident (a Sony subsidiary dedicated to Christian music), told NPR. “I don’t think we’ve ever been in this season of opportunity.”
Contemporary Christian music’s rise in 2025
On occasion, Christian artists have found crossover success in recent years — like Lauren Daigle’s “You Say,” which hit No. 29 on the Hot 100 in 2019.
“Because enough radio programmers on the mainstream stations played it, we actually had to go and sign with a mainstream label and get a mainstream radio team,” Daigle told the Deseret News in a 2020 interview.
Daigle has continued to have strong mainstream appeal — including a performance of “America the Beautiful” at this year’s Super Bowl. However, moments like Daigle’s breakthrough success were more in isolation rather than indicative of a trend, according to NPR.
But last year, Christian/gospel music marked the fourth-fastest-growing genre, according to Luminate, an entertainment industry data and analytics company. Now, through streaming and social media engagement, the contemporary Christian music fanbase continues to grow — and reach a younger audience.
When JT Tumanuvao and his wife, Lynnae, arrived at the Maverik Center for Frank’s concert this past May, they were both surprised to see so many kids in attendance. In 2021, the couple — who have followed Frank since his days in the band Surfaces — went to a show at The Complex where the primary demographic was high schoolers and college students.
This year’s concert was a completely different story.
“You heard screaming children the entire time. It was like you went to an elementary pep rally,” said 27-year-old JT Tumanuvao, a longtime Frank fan who lives in Bountiful.
On Instagram, Frank has over 6.5 million followers; Lake has more than 3 million.
Both artists, who are in their 30s, directly engage with their fans on social media and encourage them to interact with their music. The proliferation of the online content and streaming has essentially put contemporary Christian music on the same playing field as other genres.
“It used to be that Christian music felt like a lesser version of whatever was popular. Like, Harry Styles is popular, so let’s do the Christian version of Harry Styles,” Zabka told NPR, noting that artists like Lake and Frank “can now simply exist on the same level as all the other artists in the world.”
Just earlier this month, during the season finale of “The Voice,” 14-year-old finalist Max Chambers opted to perform Frank’s “Your Way’s Better.” One clip of the video, shared by Frank on Instagram, has more than half a million likes.
“It’s bold to be open about your faith,“ ”Voice” coach Michael Bublé told the teenager following the performance. ”Do you know how many people who are watching at home that might be shy to share theirs, and the fact that you just did that, it’s amazing.”
“American Idol” judge Carrie Underwood had a similar reaction when two contestants performed a duet of Lake’s hit song “Gratitude” this past season.
“I know how difficult it is to come into the entertainment industry and bring your faith with you,” she said with emotion. “It is a brave thing to do because there are a lot of outside forces that are going to tell you not to do that.”
Lake also performed as a guest artist on “American Idol” during the season, taking part in a three-hour episode devoted to gospel music that aired on Easter Sunday, the Deseret News previously reported.
“It was really special to see how well America received that, and also how well all the other contestants really stepped up to the plate to deliver their faith,” top five “Idol” finalist Thunderstorm Artis told the Deseret News. “I honestly could not believe that ‘Idol’ gave us the platform to do such a thing like that.”
The appeal of Brandon Lake, Forrest Frank
Although she’s long been into the genre, Talera Lara found herself listening to contemporary Christian music even more following the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University in September.
Lara, who lives in Spanish Fork, was touched by Lake’s performance at Kirk’s memorial. Her 7-year-old daughter also enjoyed the music and it quickly became a staple in their home.
The family bought tickets for Lake’s Nov. 13 concert at the Maverik Center. For Lara’s husband, Wilmer Lara, Christian music has never been something he’s gravitated toward, so he only knew a song or two going into the show. But there’s a realness and vividness to Lake’s music, he said, and the rock-country-pop style, combined with the positive messaging, has turned him into a big fan.
It’s good for the whole family. It doesn’t leave anyone out.
— Wilmer Lara on Brandon Lake’s music
“You can sing along to it, you can vibe with it, you can dance to it, and it’s good for the whole family,” he said. “It doesn’t leave anyone out.
“I felt the spirit was really strong there,” continued Lara, who is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “(Lake) gave people permission to worship, in other words, in whatever way, shape or form they wanted to. I felt like that kind of took over the whole entire stadium. It was nice to see people hugging each other, strangers kind of just becoming friends, and then leaving the show a little more uplifted and with a better outlook on humanity, really.”
The Laras said their daughter has thanked them every single day for taking her to the show.
Like Wilmer Lara, JT Tumanuvao has also never really been drawn to contemporary Christian music.
But that all changed with Frank.
“I feel like my taste in music has never perfectly aligned with anything until I found Forrest Frank’s music,” he said. “I liked the music, and then I liked that it was Christian.
“I could never fully enjoy music knowing that it wasn’t clean and uplifting,” he continued. “But this perfectly aligns with who I want to be and stuff I want to fill my life with.”
I feel like my taste in music has never perfectly aligned with anything until I found Forrest Frank’s music. I liked the music, and then I liked that it was Christian.
— JT Tumanuvao
At Frank’s concert, both the Tumanuvaos and 14-year-old Church liked hearing the artist talk about his shift to Christian songwriting, and how the lyrics and music have come more easily to him since moving in that direction.
“I think he’s just super inspired to write this music,” Church said. “He doesn’t want the praise for any of it. He just wants people to worship God.”
It’s an authenticity Church said bleeds through all of Frank’s music. His unique style coupled with that earnestness leaves her wanting more — a sign that contemporary Christian music, as Zabka said to NPR, is continuing to evolve into a genre that can hold its own in a competitive music industry.
“He’s not trying to be someone else,” Church said.
Fans share their favorite Forrest Frank, Brandon Lake songs
During their interviews with the Deseret News, Church and the Tumanuvaos shared their favorite Forrest Frank hits, while the Laras shared their go-to Brandon Lake songs.
Forrest Frank
- Hazel Church’s favorite: “Safe and Sound”
- JT Tumanuvao’s favorites: “Never Get Used to This,” featuring JVKE; and “Jesus Paid It All (Worthy of the Price)”
- Lynnae Tumanuvao’s favorites: “Lemonade”; and “Your Way’s Better”
‘Safe and Sound’
‘Never Get Used to This’
‘Jesus Paid It All (Worthy of the Price)’
‘Lemonade’
‘Your Way’s Better’
Brandon Lake
- Talera Lara’s favorites: “House of Miracles”; and “Gratitude”
- Wilmer Lara’s favorite: “When A Cowboy Prays”
‘House of Miracles’
‘Gratitude’
‘When A Cowboy Prays’