2021 Christian Awards

Welcome to the2021 BMIChristian Awards!

We are deeply honored and excited to celebrate our extraordinary family of Christian songwriters and publishers whose music has made an incredible impact over the past year. Your messages of hope and strength have encouraged and empowered listeners around the world during a time when it was more needed than ever, and we are so grateful for your unparalleled gifts that add joy and inspiration to our lives. You make us proud to recognize your outstanding success with this special tribute! Read on to learn fun facts about our first-time winners, hear the stories behind some of the award-winning music, and watch exclusive performances from some of our outstanding music creators. Congratulations and enjoy the show!

Michael O’Neill

President & CEO

Leslie Roberts

AVP Creative

Clay Bradley

VP Creative

MaryAnn Keen

Associate Director Creative

BMI Celebrates Christian Music’s Best with 2021 Christian Music Awards

“Way Maker” Named Song of the Year;

Capitol CMG Named Publisher of the Year;

Ethan Hulse Wins Songwriter of the Year

(Nashville, TN) August 2, 2021 – BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) paid tribute to the best and brightest in Christian music with its annual Christian Awards celebration. The honorees were announced today on BMI.com and across the organization’s digital platforms, celebrating the encouraging and uplifting music of BMI’s Christian songwriters. To honor these achievements, BMI created a page on its website where fans can watch special video messages and performances, listen to award-winning music, and more. To view this exclusive content and hear the story behind some of this year’s uplifting songs, please visit bmi.com/christian2021.

“The BMI Christian Awards is one of our favorite annual celebrations, but it is especially meaningful after the events of the last year. Throughout this time, each and every one of these extraordinary songwriters has used their gift to uplift others,” says Leslie Roberts, AVP, Creative, BMI Nashville. “BMI is so proud to honor the creators of the inspirational songs of hope and faith that bring comfort to so many around the world. I am hopeful that we will all be together again to celebrate in person next year.”

The Song of the Year title went to “Way Maker,” written by Sinach and published by Capitol CMG Publishing. In 2020, the hit won the Dove Award for Song of the Year, making Sinach the first Nigerian Christian artist to win the award. The song has been covered by numerous artists including Christian rock band Leeland as well as the iconic Michael W. Smith. The Leeland and Smith versions of the song entered the Billboard Hot Christian Chart in the top ten, marking the first time in history that two versions of the same song resided together in the top of the chart.

For the third year in a row, the Songwriter of the Year award went to Ethan Hulse, who wrote “Rescue Story,” “Stand In Your Love” and “The Father’s House.” In 2019, Hulse won his first BMI Award and was simultaneously named Songwriter of the Year.

Capitol CMG took home the Publisher of the Year award. The company had the highest percentage of copyright ownership among the year’s most-performed songs, including the hits “Believer,” “Burn the Ships,” “Dead Man Walking,” “God’s Not Done With You,” “Holy Water,” “Let It Rain (Is There Anybody),” “See a Victory,” “Stand In Your Love,” “The Blessing,” “The Father’s House,” “Way Maker,” and “You Are Loved.”

In addition to the major award winners, BMI also paid homage to the Twenty-Five Most Performed Christian Songs of the Year (2020). This year’s winners featured 17 first time Christian award winners including Cody Carnes (“The Blessing”), Franni Cash Cain (“Holy Water”), Martin Cash (“Holy Water”), Dillon Chase (“Symphony”), Dave Clark (“River”), Sheri Easter (“You Are Loved”), Cassidy Estevez (“Symphony”), Rob Estevez (“Symphony”), Luke Guevara (“Symphony”), Matt Hales (“Burn the Ships”), Jason Ingram (“Alive,” “See A Victory”), Ricky Jackson (“Together”), Andrew Ripp (“Rescue Story”), Sinach (“Way Maker”), Rita Springer (“Stand In Your Love”), Mitch Wong (“Believer”), and Jimmy Yeary (“The God I Serve,” “Sometimes It’s The Radio”), who has previously been awarded seven BMI Country Awards. Legendary Christian songwriter and producer Bernie Herms is receiving his 17th and 18th Awards. He was named 2016 Christian Songwriter of the Year and also wrote the 2016 Christian Song of the Year, “Good Good Father.”

To join the conversation on social media, follow us @BMI and use #BMIChristian.

ABOUT BMI:

Celebrating over 80 years of service to songwriters, composers, music publishers and businesses, Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI®) is a global leader in music rights management, serving as an advocate for the value of music. BMI represents the public performance rights in over 15 million musical works created and owned by more than one million songwriters, composers, and music publishers. The Company negotiates music license agreements and distributes the fees it generates as royalties to its affiliated writers and publishers when their songs are performed in public. In 1939, BMI created a groundbreaking open-door policy becoming the only performing rights organization to welcome and represent the creators of blues, jazz, country, and American roots music. Today, the musical compositions in BMI’s repertoire, from chart toppers to perennial favorites, span all genres of music and are consistently among the most-performed hits of the year. For additional information and the latest BMI news, visit bmi.com, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @BMI or stay connected through Broadcast Music, Inc.‘s Facebook page. Sign up for BMI’s The Weekly™ and receive our e-newsletter every week to stay up to date on all things music.

LET’S CELEBRATE!

A Special Message from Natalie Grant

SONG OF THE YEAR

Way Maker

Sinach

Capitol CMG Publishing

A Special Message from Sinach

PERFORMANCE

“Way Maker” performed by Sinach

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

Ethan Hulse

Rescue Story

Stand In Your Love

The Father’s House

A Special Message from Ethan Hulse

PERFORMANCE

“Rescue Story” performed by Ethan Hulse

PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR

Capitol CMG Publishing

Believer
Burn the Ships
Dead Man Walking
God’s Not Done With You
Holy Water
Let It Rain (Is There Anybody)
See a Victory
Stand In Your Love
The Blessing
The Father’s House
Way Maker
You Are Loved

A Special Message from Capitol CMG Publishing

PERFORMANCE

“Holy Water” performed by We The Kingdom

Fun Facts

Discover some fun facts about our first-time BMI Christian Award winners and learn what they had to say about this career milestone.

Rita Springer

Springer started her own worship school, DIVE (Deep-Innovative-Vertical-Expression), which trains up-and-coming worship leaders all over the world with weeklong intensive one-on-one courses. She is winning her first BMI Award for “Stand In Your Love,” recorded by Bethel Music & Josh Baldwin.

Franni Cash Cain

When Franni was six years old, she would dress up in fancy dresses and twirl around the house singing and dancing, grabbing anything that remotely resembled a mic stand and make up songs, singing for hours on end. Frances means “Free Spirit” - and she is all of that! She is winning her BMI Award for “Holy Water.”

Martin Cash

Martin has always gone after life full force. He’s a phenomenal athlete, and as a kid, always had bruises on his legs from diving for baseballs. You see this same passion in his drumming, which shows his wonderfully wild heart and athleticism. Martin means “Mighty Warrior” - true to the core. He is winning his BMI Award for “Holy Water.”

Dave Clark

“I moved to Nashville as a teenager in the mid-70s to pursue songwriting. Poor, hungry and discouraged, I walked into a McDonald’s where they were having a contest for people to write their most memorable Big Mac Attack. I turned the paper in my tray over, wrote my entry on the back and turned it in. Several weeks later, I was notified I’d won the grand prize for the mid-south region - a year's supply of Big Macs. To this day, I still can hardly eat one, but for that year I ate well. :)” Clark is winning his BMI Award for “River.”

Sheri Easter

“I am a third generation Gospel Music performer! My mama, Polly of The Lewis Family, traveled and sang 58 years.” Easter is winning her BMI Award for “You Are Loved,” which she recorded with her husband. She is a Dove Award winner and was also nominated for a GRAMMY.

Cassidy Estevez

Estevez led the Creative Worship ministry at Life.Church out of Edmond, Oklahoma. She is winning her first BMI Award for “Symphony,” which was recorded by Switch featuring Dillon Chase. Her husband and co-writer, Rob, is also winning his first BMI Award for the song.

Rob Estevez

“Art is only as good as its message. Knowing Jesus affords me the greatest message ever to exist, and songwriting is just the conduit. I’m honored to be able to spread His heart in whatever I do.” Estevez is winning his first BMI Award for “Symphony.”

Luke Guevara

“I was a nerdy, homeschooled kid. My first solo performance was “The Cheeseburger Song” from VeggieTales as a 9-year-old for my homeschool co-op. It wasn’t a talent show or anything, it was lunch hour. I just started playing and singing it at the top of my lungs from a piano, forcing the song on an unsuspecting audience. Great memories!” Guevara is winning his first BMI Award for “Symphony.”

Andrew Ripp

“About 13 years ago, when I lived in LA, I went to Lisa Marie Presley’s house for a friend’s birthday. The party was set up in the yard and when a storm rolled in, most people went home, but a handful stuck around hanging late into the night. Eventually, I moseyed off into the living room and sat down at the piano. After playing a few chords, Lisa Marie walked in and said, ‘That was my dad’s piano.’ I about lost my mind! I played it cool but inside I was freaking out! I got to play Elvis Presley’s piano!” Ripp is winning his BMI Award for “Rescue Story.”

Sinach

A fun fact about Sinach is that she lives in Nigeria and loves going to pools and beaches, but does not know how to swim. She’s winning her first BMI Award for the self-penned “Way Maker,” which was recorded by both Leeland and Michael W. Smith.

Mitch Wong

“I grew up wanting to write fantasy novels like Lord Of The Rings and Narnia, and I would write manuscripts as a 12-year-old because I wanted to inspire people to dream through language. That dream eventually merged into songwriting.” Wong is winning his BMI Award for “Believer.”

Jimmy Yeary

“I’ve had the privilege of receiving seven BMI Awards for country music. These are my first for gospel.” Yeary is winning for “Sometimes It's The Radio” and “The God I Serve.” His BMI Country Awards are for songs like “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” by Kenny Chesney featuring David Lee Murphy, “I Drive Your Truck” by Lee Brice, “Anywhere With You” by Jake Owen and “Why Wait” by Rascal Flatts.

Cody Carnes

Cody Carnes has written numerous songs with his wife, Kari Jobe, including “Closer To Your Heart” and “Let The Heavens Open.” He is receiving his first BMI Award for “The Blessing.”

Dillon Chase

Chase first started rapping at age 14 and hasn’t stopped inspiring people ever since. He’s winning his first BMI Award for “Symphony,” recorded by Switch, and as a featured performer on the record, Chase adds another element of hope to listeners who are experiencing obstacles in their lives.

Matt Hales

Also known as Aqualung, Hales has collaborated with major artists like The Fray, Jason Mraz, Sara Bareilles, for KING & COUNTRY, and many more. He is winning his first BMI Award for the title track off GRAMMY-Award winning record, Burn the Ships.

Jason Ingram

“I haven’t worn color on a t-shirt in two decades, it’s always black.” A GRAMMY and Dove Award winner, Ingram has collaborated with artists and songwriters like Brandon Heath, Lauren Daigle, Nick Jonas, and others. He is winning his first BMI Award for “Together,” recorded by for KING & COUNTRY, Tori Kelly and Kirk Franklin.

Ricky Jackson

“I went to college on scholarship studying Opera, then joined a band.” Jackson is winning his first BMI Award for “Together,” which was recorded by for KING & COUNTRY, Tori Kelly and Kirk Franklin.