Gary Chapman (musician)
Encyclopedia
Gary Chapman is an American Contemporary Christian music
singer-songwriter
and former television
talk show
host
.
, Chapman is the son of an Assemblies of God
pastor, Terry Chapman. He grew up in De Leon
, Texas
.
Chapman performed in bands throughout high school and college. After going to Bible college at what is now Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, he moved to Nashville
and was hired as bass player for The Rambos
. In 1979, his song "Father's Eyes" was recorded as the title track to Amy Grant
's second album. In 1982, his song "Finally" recorded by T. G. Sheppard
reached No. 1 on the country music
charts. He also received a Dove Award as Songwriter of the Year from the Gospel Music Association
.
During the rest of the 1980s and the early 1990s, Chapman continued to write, record, and produce music, while touring as an opening act and bass player for Grant. He sang "Brave Hearts" in 1987 for the Touchstone Pictures
film Ernest Goes to Camp
.
Chapman's career reached new heights in the mid-1990s. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album
in 1994. The Light Inside also resulted in a Dove Award nomination for Male Vocalist of the Year. It also yielded a contemporary Christian music
chart No. 1 song, "Sweet Glow of Mercy." He won a second Dove Award in 1994 for co-producing the album, Songs From The Loft, featuring various artists.
In April 1996, Chapman won Male Vocalist of the Year at the GMA Dove Awards. His 1996 album, Shelter, delivered another #1, "One of Two," with "Man After Your Own Heart" resulting in a Dove Award for Inspirational Recorded Song of the Year and featuring on the Dove award winning Special Event Album of the Year, My Utmost for His Highest
. Shelter also received a 1997 Grammy nomination for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album.
At the 1998 Dove Awards, his album also featuring other artists, Hymns From The Ryman, won Country Album Of The Year.
and The Nashville Network
announced Chapman would replace Tom Wopat
as host of their signature evening talk show, Prime Time Country. The show experienced improved ratings under Chapman, and kept the network's tradition of having a daily talk show, a network staple since its 1983 introduction (first with Ralph Emery
, then Lorianne Crook
and Charlie Chase), but ended after 1999 because of MTV Networks
' takeover of the CBS Cable Group. MTV shelved TNN in favour of starting an adult male-oriented network (now Spike TV
), which also shut down CBS Cable Group and the network's Nashville, Tennessee
and Concord, North Carolina
operations, since TNN was based out of both offices.
on June 19, 1982. Their marriage produced three children: Matthew Garrison Chapman (born 1987), Gloria Mills Chapman (called "Millie"; born 1989), and Sarah Cannon Chapman (born 1992), who was named after country legend Minnie Pearl
, a family friend. (Pearl's real name was Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon.) Citing "irreconcilable differences," Grant filed for divorce from Chapman in March 1999, and the divorce was final in June 1999.
On September 26, 2006 Gary was arrested in Nashville for driving under the influence.
He pled guilty in 2007 for driving under the influence. He was sentenced to one year of probation, had his driver’s license suspended and was ordered to attend an alcohol education program.
Chapman married Jennifer Pittman in July 2000, four months after Grant wed Vince Gill
. In 2005 and 2006, Gary and his wife were involved in financial difficulties resulting in personal and business bankruptcies due to a failed property development project. On September 26, 2006, Nashville Metro Police reported that Chapman was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and possession of marijuana. Chapman and Pittman divorced in 2007.
Chapman married Cassie Piersol, a two-time national champion cheerleader and model from Parkersburg, West Virginia
, on December 22, 2008.
Together they began a project called A Hymn a Week in 2010 to honor the musical heritage left to Gary by his parents. Chapman has stated that both his parents, who were small town pastors for their entire lives, had a strong influence in his life and they "implanted the hymns into [his] heart". Chapman's mother, Mary, died about 2001 while his father, Terry, died in 2009 after a lengthy battle with Parkinson's disease
and cancer. During his last years, he lived with Chapman and his wife. During that time, Gary played and sang old hymns at his father's bedside. They then began filming the brief history and/or personal connection to a different hymn each week along with a guitar/vocal performance of the work and posting them on Facebook, on a page called A Hymn a Week.
Christian music
Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely across the world....
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and former television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
host
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
.
Early life and music career
Born in Waurika, OklahomaWaurika, Oklahoma
Waurika is a city in Jefferson County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,988 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Jefferson County. The name is the Comanche compound 'worm eater' from woa 'worm' + 'eat' and presumably refers to a group of Comanche living in the area or to...
, Chapman is the son of an Assemblies of God
Assemblies of God
The Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...
pastor, Terry Chapman. He grew up in De Leon
De Leon, Texas
De Leon is a city located in Comanche County in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 2,433 at the time of the 2000 census.The town was laid out in April 1881 by surveying crews of the Texas Central Railway as it constructed a line from Ross, just north of Waco, to an undecided destination in...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
Chapman performed in bands throughout high school and college. After going to Bible college at what is now Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, he moved to Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
and was hired as bass player for The Rambos
The Rambos
The Rambos were an American Southern Gospel music group that was formed in the 1960s. They were one of the most successful Gospel trios of the 20th century. The group consisted of Buck and Dottie Rambo at first along with several various people singing with them and they were joined by their...
. In 1979, his song "Father's Eyes" was recorded as the title track to Amy Grant
Amy Grant
Amy Lee Grant is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, media personality and actress, best known for her Christian music. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christian Pop"...
's second album. In 1982, his song "Finally" recorded by T. G. Sheppard
T. G. Sheppard
T. G. Sheppard is an American country music singer, who had 14 number one hits during the 1970s and 1980s.-Early life:...
reached No. 1 on the country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
charts. He also received a Dove Award as Songwriter of the Year from the Gospel Music Association
Gospel Music Association
The Gospel Music Association was founded in 1964 for the purpose of supporting and promoting the development of all forms of Gospel music. There are currently about 4,000 members worldwide...
.
During the rest of the 1980s and the early 1990s, Chapman continued to write, record, and produce music, while touring as an opening act and bass player for Grant. He sang "Brave Hearts" in 1987 for the Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures is an American film production label and is one of several film labels of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. Established in 1984, its releases typically feature more mature themes and darker tones than those that are released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner.Touchstone...
film Ernest Goes to Camp
Ernest Goes to Camp
Ernest Goes to Camp is a 1987 Touchstone Pictures comedy film directed by John R. Cherry III and starring Jim Varney. It is the second film to feature the character of Ernest P...
.
Chapman's career reached new heights in the mid-1990s. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album
Grammy Award for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album
The Grammy Award for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album was awarded from 1991 to 2011. From 1991 to 1993 it was awarded as Best Pop Gospel Album.The award will be discontinued from 2012 in a major overhaul of Grammy categories...
in 1994. The Light Inside also resulted in a Dove Award nomination for Male Vocalist of the Year. It also yielded a contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...
chart No. 1 song, "Sweet Glow of Mercy." He won a second Dove Award in 1994 for co-producing the album, Songs From The Loft, featuring various artists.
In April 1996, Chapman won Male Vocalist of the Year at the GMA Dove Awards. His 1996 album, Shelter, delivered another #1, "One of Two," with "Man After Your Own Heart" resulting in a Dove Award for Inspirational Recorded Song of the Year and featuring on the Dove award winning Special Event Album of the Year, My Utmost for His Highest
My Utmost for His Highest (album)
My Utmost for His Highest is the first of two albums of songs inspired by Oswald Chambers' devotional My Utmost for His Highest. The album, produced by Brown Bannister, features performances by popular Christian musicians of songs relating to a day from Chamber's book...
. Shelter also received a 1997 Grammy nomination for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album.
At the 1998 Dove Awards, his album also featuring other artists, Hymns From The Ryman, won Country Album Of The Year.
Television career
In the middle of 1996, Dick Clark ProductionsDick Clark Productions
Dick Clark Productions is an entertainment production company founded by entertainer Dick Clark...
and The Nashville Network
The Nashville Network
The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows...
announced Chapman would replace Tom Wopat
Tom Wopat
Tom Wopat is an American actor and singer. He first achieved fame as Luke Duke in the long-running 1979 television series The Dukes of Hazzard, along with John Schneider. He also played Jeff, one of Cybill Shepherd's ex-husbands in the TV series Cybill.-Life and career:Wopat was born in Lodi,...
as host of their signature evening talk show, Prime Time Country. The show experienced improved ratings under Chapman, and kept the network's tradition of having a daily talk show, a network staple since its 1983 introduction (first with Ralph Emery
Ralph Emery
Walter Ralph Emery is a country music disc jockey and television host from Nashville, Tennessee. He gained national fame hosting the syndicated television music series, Pop! Goes the Country, from 1974 to 1980 and the nightly Nashville Network television program, Nashville Now, from 1983 to 1993...
, then Lorianne Crook
Lorianne Crook
Lorianne Crook is an American radio and television host, producer and writer. She is best known for her work on The Nashville Network programs This Week In Country Music and Crook & Chase with Charlie Chase.-Early life:...
and Charlie Chase), but ended after 1999 because of MTV Networks
MTV Networks
MTV Networks is a division of media conglomerate Viacom that oversees the operations of many television channels and Internet brands, including the original MTV channel in the United States...
' takeover of the CBS Cable Group. MTV shelved TNN in favour of starting an adult male-oriented network (now Spike TV
Spike TV
Spike is an American cable television channel. It launched on March 7, 1983 as The Nashville Network , a joint venture of WSM, Inc...
), which also shut down CBS Cable Group and the network's Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
and Concord, North Carolina
Concord, North Carolina
Concord is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. According to Census 2010, the city has a current population of 79,066. It is the largest city in Cabarrus County and is the county seat. In terms of population, the city of Concord is the second largest city in the Charlotte Metropolitan Area...
operations, since TNN was based out of both offices.
Personal life
Chapman married Amy GrantAmy Grant
Amy Lee Grant is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, media personality and actress, best known for her Christian music. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christian Pop"...
on June 19, 1982. Their marriage produced three children: Matthew Garrison Chapman (born 1987), Gloria Mills Chapman (called "Millie"; born 1989), and Sarah Cannon Chapman (born 1992), who was named after country legend Minnie Pearl
Minnie Pearl
Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon , known professionally as Minnie Pearl, was an American country comedienne who appeared at the Grand Ole Opry for more than 50 years and on the television show Hee Haw from 1969 to 1991.-Early life:Sarah Colley was born in Centerville, in Hickman County, Tennessee,...
, a family friend. (Pearl's real name was Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon.) Citing "irreconcilable differences," Grant filed for divorce from Chapman in March 1999, and the divorce was final in June 1999.
On September 26, 2006 Gary was arrested in Nashville for driving under the influence.
He pled guilty in 2007 for driving under the influence. He was sentenced to one year of probation, had his driver’s license suspended and was ordered to attend an alcohol education program.
Chapman married Jennifer Pittman in July 2000, four months after Grant wed Vince Gill
Vince Gill
Vincent Grant "Vince" Gill is an American neotraditional country singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman to the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s, and as a solo artist beginning in 1983, where his talents as a...
. In 2005 and 2006, Gary and his wife were involved in financial difficulties resulting in personal and business bankruptcies due to a failed property development project. On September 26, 2006, Nashville Metro Police reported that Chapman was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and possession of marijuana. Chapman and Pittman divorced in 2007.
Chapman married Cassie Piersol, a two-time national champion cheerleader and model from Parkersburg, West Virginia
Parkersburg, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 33,099 people, 14,467 households, and 8,767 families residing in the city. In 2006 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that Parkersburg's population had decreased 4.4% to 31,755. The population density was 2,800.5 people per square mile . There were 16,100 housing...
, on December 22, 2008.
Together they began a project called A Hymn a Week in 2010 to honor the musical heritage left to Gary by his parents. Chapman has stated that both his parents, who were small town pastors for their entire lives, had a strong influence in his life and they "implanted the hymns into [his] heart". Chapman's mother, Mary, died about 2001 while his father, Terry, died in 2009 after a lengthy battle with Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
and cancer. During his last years, he lived with Chapman and his wife. During that time, Gary played and sang old hymns at his father's bedside. They then began filming the brief history and/or personal connection to a different hymn each week along with a guitar/vocal performance of the work and posting them on Facebook, on a page called A Hymn a Week.
Albums
| Year | Album | Chart Positions | Label | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US CCM | US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US Heat Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
|||
| 1981 | Sincerely Yours | Lamb & Lion | |||
| 1983 | Happenin'... Live | ||||
| 1987 | Everyday Man | 26 | Reunion | ||
| 1994 | The Light Inside | 10 | |||
| 1996 | The Early Years | ||||
| Shelter | 7 | 192 | 12 | ||
| 1997 | This Gift | 16 | 16 | ||
| 1998 | Hymns from the Ryman | Word | |||
| 1999 | Outside | Reunion | |||
| 2002 | The Best of Gary Chapman: After God's Own Heart | ||||
| Circles and Seasons | Word | ||||
Singles
| Year | Single | US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | "When We're Together (Love's So Strong)" | 60 | Everyday Man |
| "Everyday Man" | 76 |