Michael Whitaker Smith (born October 7, 1957) is an American musician who has charted on both contemporary and mainstream Christian charts. [2] His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when “Place in This World” reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. During his career, he sold over 18 million albums. [3]

Smith is a three-time Grammy Award winner, an American Music Award recipient,[4] and has won 45 Dove Awards. [5] In 1999, ASCAP presented him with the “Golden Note” award for lifetime achievement in songwriting, [6] and in 2014 they honored him as the “cornerstone of Christian Music” for his significant influence on the genre. [7] He has also recorded 31 No. 1 hit songs, fourteen gold albums and five platinum albums. [3] He also starred in two films and published 14 books including This Is Your Time, which he worked with Christian author Gary Thomas to write. [8]

Youth
Michael Whitaker Smith was born to Paul and Barbara Smith in Kenova, West Virginia. His father was an oil refinery worker at the Ashland Oil Refinery near Catlettsburg, Kentucky. His mother was a caterer. [9] He inherited his love of baseball from his father, who had played in the minor leagues. As a child, he developed a love of music through his church. He learned the piano at an early age and sang in his church choir. At the age of 10, he had “an intense spiritual experience” which led him to become a devout Christian. “I wore this big cross around my neck,” he recalls, “it was very real to me.” [10] He got involved in Bible study and found a group of older friends who shared his faith. [ten]

After her older Christian friends moved to college, Smith began to struggle with feelings of loneliness and alienation. After graduating from high school, he turned to alcohol and drugs. [9] He attended Marshall University while developing his songwriting skills, but dropped out after one semester. He also played with various local bands around Huntington, West Virginia. During this time, his friend Shane Keister, who was working as a session musician in Nashville, encouraged him to move to Nashville, the country music capital, and pursue a career in music. [ten]

In 1978, Smith moved to Nashville, taking a job as a landscaper to support herself. He played with several local bands on the Nashville club scene. He also developed a substance abuse problem.

I really started to lose touch when I moved to Nashville, around April 1978. I smoked marijuana, I drank, I took other drugs; just be crazy, you know. My mom and dad knew what I was doing. But they never harassed me; they just prayed for me. And I felt condemned by God. Every time I woke up, I knew: it’s not me. But I couldn’t change myself. [ten]

In November 1979, Smith suffered a depression which led to his recommitment to Christ. The next day, he auditioned for a new Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) band, Higher Ground, as a keyboardist and got the job. Her lead vocals were heard on much of CCM radio with the single “I Am”. It was on his first tour with Higher Ground, playing mostly in churches, that Smith was finally able to put the drugs and alcohol behind him.