STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN

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Steven Curtis Chapman (born November 21, 1962 in Paducah, Kentucky, U.S.) is a Contemporary Christian musician.

After starting his career in the late 80s as a songwriter, Chapman has turned into one of the most prolific singers in the genre, releasing more than 20 albums to this date.

As of 2007, he has sold more than 10 million albums and has 9 gold and platinum albums.

Chapman has also won five Grammy awards and 51 Gospel Music Association Awards, more than any other artist in history.

Steven Curtis Chapman is also a vocal advocate for adoption, along with his wife Mary Beth. Together, they have adopted three children from China and have started a charity organization called Shaohannah's Hope, which offers grants to qualifying families to help defray the cost of adopting, at home and abroad.

Steven Curtis Chapman was born to Herb and Judy Chapman in Paducah, Kentucky on November 21, 1962. Chapman's father is a guitar teacher in Paducah, and young Chapman grew up playing the guitar and singing.

Upon finishing high school, Steven Curtis Chapman enrolled as a pre-med student at Georgetown College in Kentucky. After a couple of semesters he transferred to Anderson College in Indiana. However, he soon dropped out and went to Nashville to pursue a career in music. While in Nashville he briefly attended Belmont University. He began working a music show at Opryland USA while dedicating time to songwriting.

In the 1980s, Steven Curtis Chapman wrote a song called "Built to Last," which was recorded by prominent gospel group, The Imperials. The strength of the song prompted him to be signed to a songwriting deal with Sparrow Records, where he rose to prominence. As of 2007, artists like Sandi Patty, Billy Dean, Glen Campbell, and Roger Whittaker have recorded Chapman's songs.

In 1987, Steven Curtis Chapman released his first album, First Hand. The album included the song "Weak Days," which peaked at #2 on the Contemporary Christian Music chart. In 1988, he followed with his second album, Real Life Conversations, which earned him four more hits, including the #1 song "His Eyes."

The song, which was co-written by James Isaac Elliott, earned the Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year award from the Gospel Music Association in 1989. That year, he also won a GMA Award for Best Songwriter of the Year.

After that, Steven Curtis Chapman followed with more albums like More to This Life and For the Sake of the Call. All of these albums featured several #1 singles, and were awarded several GMA Awards. The latter also gave Chapman his first Grammy in the Best Pop Gospel Album category. These achievements strengthened his position in the Christian music scene.

In 1992, Chapman made a successful shift into a more mainstream audience with his album The Great Adventure. The album garnered Chapman with two more Grammys for the album, and the title track video. After Sparrow Records was purchased by EMI/Liberty, they began to market the album to a broader audience, pushing it to gold status in 1993.

The success of the album prompted Chapman to record one of his concerts and release it as The Live Adventure, both as a video and a CD. This continuation won Chapman more GMA Awards, and also a new award from American Songwriter magazine for Songwriter and Artist of the Year.

Chapman followed to enjoy success with albums like Heaven in the Real World, Signs of Life, and Speechless. In 2001, with the release of Declaration, Chapman began to get more attention in the Top 200. That album, along with 2002's All About Love, peaked in the Top 15. The follow-up, All Things New, made it to #22.

Chapman has also released three Christmas albums, beginning with 1995's The Music of Christmas. In 2005, he released All I Really Want for Christmas, and this was followed by a re-release of The Music of Christmas in 2004, distributed only at Hallmark stores.

In the Christian video game Dance Praise, four songs from Steven Curtis Chapman are included: "All About Love," "Dive," "Live Out Loud," and "Only Getting Started." The Dance Praise expansion pack, Dance Praise Expansion Pack Volume 1: Modern Worship, adds the following songs to the game: "Children of the Burning Heart," "Let us Pray," "See the Glory," "Fingerprints of God," and "I Do Believe."

Chapman also hosts the Gospel Music Channel show, "The Best of the Dove Awards."

In 2006, Chapman went on tour to several Asian countries. His website claims his concert for U.S. troops serving in South Korea was the first Christian concert ever performed for the troops in that country, and a concert in Shanghai, China was "the first public performance by a Gospel recording artist event in the city open to China passport holders," and the third-largest concert in Shanghai that spring.

The tour also took the artist to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Singapore. During the same period, his song "The Blessing" reached number one on Thailand radio charts. His number one hit was Dive.

In 2007, Chapman co-headlined Newsong's annual Winter Jam tour with Jeremy Camp. For the tour, he brought his sons' band, The Following, out on tour to play as his backing band, along with longtime keyboardist Scott Sheriff. Also, Chapman released his most recent album, This Moment, in October 2007.

He continues to tour with Sanctus Real, Bethany Dillon, and his sons, Caleb and Will Franklin, for the Live In This Moment Tour. At each stop during the tour, spare change and monetary donations are collected to help grant a local family a financial gift needed to complete an adoption.

On April 20, 2008, he was awarded a star on Nashville's Walk of Fame for his contributions in Christian music.

As of 2007, Chapman has sold more than 10 million albums and has 9 gold and platinum albums.

Aso, as of 2007, Chapman has been married to Mary Beth Chapman (they shared the same last name prior to their marriage) for 23 years.

The couple met in the early 80s at Anderson College in Anderson, Indiana and married in the fall of 1984.

They currently live in Franklin, Tennessee, and have three biological children (Emily Elizabeth, Caleb Stevenson, and Will Franklin).

They adopted three young girls from China (Shaohannah Hope Yan, Stevey Joy Ru, and Maria Sue).

Sadly, Maria Sue is deceased (explained below).

When Steven and Mary were first married, they struggled with finances and turned to God in prayer. A few days before their anniversary, they found out that Mary was pregnant.

When arriving home one night, they noticed fire engines outside their apartment, and realized their apartment had burnt down. They had no insurance to cover the cost of damages, and they moved in with friends. Then Sparrow Records noticed Steven's vocal abilities and signed him.

Together, Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife have written three children's books with adoption themes: Shaoey And Dot: Bug Meets Bundle (2004), Shaoey and Dot: The Christmas Miracle (2005), and Shaoey and Dot: A Thunder and Lightning Bug Story (2006). Chapman's modern fairytale, Cinderella: The Love of a Daddy and His Princess (2008) chronicles and celebrates the blessings of childhood, family, love, and life.

Together with minister Scotty Smith, Chapman has authored two books for the adult inspirational market: Speechless (1999) and Restoring Broken Things (2005). Chapman's song "All About Love" has been featured in commercials for the Fox television show Celebrity Duets.

Steven Curtis Chapman and his sons recorded under the name of "Stevenson" for the 2003 Veggie Rocks CD. (Song: "I Love My Lips," VeggieTales). Chapman also starred in the 2003 film Christmas Child.

Chapman's five-year-old daughter, Maria Sue Chapman, was killed in a tragic accident on May 21, 2008. The little girl was accidentally hit by her older brother in an SUV in the driveway of their home in Franklin, Tennessee, according to Tennessee Department of Safety spokesman Mike Browning. "We're investigating and will turn it over to the D.A., but every appearance is that it was a terrible accident," Browning said.

The entire family was preparing to celebrate their eldest son Caleb's graduation from high school and their daughter's engagement just hours before the accident. Maria Sue later died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. A spokesman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol termed it "a terrible accident," and said that no charges are expected to be filed.

Maria was the youngest in the family, and one of three daughters adopted from China by Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth. During the memorial service for Maria, in which Pastor Scotty Smith preached, the family expressed their faith in God and their love for each other.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, the Chapman family is scheduled to make appearances on Good Morning America and Larry King Live in early August 2008.

Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife are recognized advocates for adoption. Together, they founded Shaohannah's Hope, a charity organization which offers grants to qualifying families to help defray the cost of adopting, at home and abroad. Both were awarded the Congressional Angels in Adoption™ award by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) in Washington, D.C. in September of 2001.

Steven Curtis Chapman also has promoted the international charity World Vision for at least a decade, currently serving as spokesman for Project Restore, its program serving the U.S. Gulf Coast region in recovery from Hurricane Katrina, in cooperation with the Gospel Music Association.

In the late 1990s, Chapman became involved in youth violence prevention efforts following the 1997 Heath High School shooting at his alma mater in West Paducah, Kentucky. Chapman even dedicated a song, "With Hope," from his 1999 album, Speechless, to the families who lost someone in the shooting.

In addition, he was asked to sing at the funeral of one of the victims. Chapman later gave a memorial concert, and joined Charles Colson and others in creating a video designed to sensitize teenagers to the signs of serious violence planning among peers, and to encourage them to report plans that are told to them.

He has also travelled to Uganda on a few occasions to help with the problem of street children, and to help orphans and adoption organizations. He has played at local churches, including KPC (Kampala Pentecostal Church) in Kampala.

Chapman has released 16 studio albums, more than 20 albums total in his career, including two Christmas albums, several collections of greatest hits, and a live album. He has sold more than nine million total albums (including two certified Platinum albums, seven certified Gold albums), and has had 45 #1 Christian radio hits.

Chapman's musical proficiency has earned him 51 music awards.

During the Song of the Year presentation at the 1999 GMA Dove Awards, triple NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Darrell Waltrip asked three-time Dove winner Kathy Troccoli if she could relate to the experience of a driver who has tuned his car to perfection, driving well, only to be blown away by another driver who leaves everyone in the dust to steal the win.

The songstress responded, "We know the feeling, Darrell. It happens to us every time Steven Curtis Chapman releases a new record!"

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