Lauren Daigle

Daigle started singing in her choir[5] and continued to lead the choir at LSU.[5] She tried out for American Idol in 2010 and 2012 after she was encouraged by her family to compete in the singing competition.[5] She was cut just before the final 24 contestants in 2010,[10] and she did not make it to Hollywood in 2011. She made it to the Hollywood round in 2012, but was cut in the first Las Vegas round.[11]

She made her debut on North Point InsideOut's album, Hear, where she recorded "Close" and "You Alone" live at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia.[12] She later appeared on North Point Music's album North Point Beginnings where she recorded "It is Well" in 2015.[13]

She was asked to sing background vocals on an EP for a local band called "The Assemblie" and the EP was briefly the most sold album in the US iTunes Store.[11] After the release of the EP, Centricity Music invited her to attend a workshop. When the singer for the main event at the workshop became ill, she was asked to fill in.[5] This led to her singing on the Jason Gray single "Nothing is Wasted".[5] Centricity Music signed her on the label in 2013.[5]

Daigle's first single, "Light of the World" came from the 2013 album Christmas: Joy To The World, a collection of holiday songs from various Centricity artists.[14] Serving as Daigle's solo introduction to the Christian music scene, the single garnered an initial fanbase and much attention for Daigle. That year, Daigle was asked to be a part of the Morning Rises Fall Tour with Aaron Shust and Mikeschair.[15] Daigle released the EP How Can It Be in September 2014.[16]

Daigle's debut full-length album, How Can It Be was released April 14, 2015, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard Christian Albums Chart. The album also broke Top 20 on the Billboard Top Albums Chart for all genres (No. 16).[17] Daigle was named one of Christian music's break-out artists, and her album's first single "How Can It Be" was named by iTunes as one of the Top Christian songs of 2014.[18] The single "How Can It Be" also reached Top 10 at NCA, AC Monitored, and AC Indicator. As a whole, the album logged six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Christian Albums Chart. Eighteen months after its release, How Can It Be achieved Gold Record status.[19] The album is certified platinum.[20]

The additional singles from How Can It Be also gained success for Daigle. "First" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Christian Airplay Chart, where it remained for seven weeks; "Trust in You" also reached the No. 1 spot, remaining for eight weeks.[21] Both songs achieved the No. 1 spot on the NCA radio chart.[22] "Come Alive (Dry Bones)" peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Christian Airplay chart.[23]

On June 1, 2015, Daigle accepted her first award, Worship Song of the Year, for her single "How Can It Be" at the K-Love Awards.[24] This was also the first K-Love Fan Award for her label, Centricity Music.[25] The album How Can It Be won the 2016 Billboard Award for Top Christian Album and was nominated for the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album.[26] Along with being named Best New Artist at the 2015 Dove Awards, Daigle earned awards for Song of the Year and Contemporary Song of the Year (for "How Can It Be). At the next year's ceremony, she took home the top honor of Artist of the Year, plus Songwriter of the Year, and Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year (for "Trust in You").[27] That year she also won two K-Love Fan Awards, for Artist of the Year and Female Artist of the Year.[28] She received another Grammy nomination in 2017, for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song, for "Trust in You".[29] She won Female Artist of the Year at the K-Love Fan Awards in 2017 for the second year in a row.[30][31]

The album's overall success resulted in the release of How Can It Be: Deluxe Edition in May 2016. The deluxe version features the original album's tracks, along with two new songs, acoustic versions of singles "First" and "Come Alive", and a live performance version of "How Can It Be".[32]

On October 21, 2016, she released Behold: A Christmas Collection, a Christmas album. Three singles were released to Christian radio on November 25, 2016: "Jingle Bells", "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and "What Child Is This", with "O Holy Night" released to Christian radio the following year, November 24, 2017, and "Winter Wonderland" released the following year, October 19, 2018.[33][34]

The album debuted at No. 77 on the US Billboard 200 on November 12, 2016, peaking at No. 29 on December 17, 2016.[35][36] The album debuted at No. 18 on the US Billboard Christian Albums Chart on November 5, 2016, reaching No. 1 on December 31, 2016.[37][38]

In 2017, she was chosen to sing, "Almost Human", for the Blade Runner 2049: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.[39]

"You Say" was released on July 13, 2018, as the lead single for her third studio album, Look Up Child.[40] The song was released to Christian radio on July 9.[41] The album was also available for pre-order.[42] It was released on September 7, 2018, via Centricity Music.[43][44] It was her first studio album in three years and served as a follow-up to her debut studio album, How Can It Be (2015).

"You Say" reached No. 1 on the Hot Christian Songs chart, where it has spent 60 weeks at No. 1, beating "Something in the Water" by Carrie Underwood for the longest reign by any solo artist in the chart's history.[45] After becoming a huge Christian radio success (peaking at No. 1 on multiple different charts, including the Christian Airplay, where it spent 17 weeks at No. 1[46]), the song was released to mainstream radio on January 15, 2019 by Warner Bros. From there, it reached the Adult Top 40, Adult Contemporary, and Mainstream Top 40 charts. It was the second biggest Christian song of 2018, according to Billboard. It has further reached a peak No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100.[47] "You Say" won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song.[48]

Look Up Child debuted at No. 3 on the US Billboard 200 with 115,000 album-equivalent units, of which 103,000 were pure album sales.[3] It is her highest-charting album and the highest-charting Christian album overall since Hard Love by Needtobreathe reached No. 2 on the chart in 2016. The album became the highest-charting Christian album by a woman on the Billboard 200 since LeAnn Rimes' You Light Up My Life peaked at No. 1 in 1997.[3] The album won Best Contemporary Christian Music Album at the 2019 Grammy Awards.[48]

As of January 2019, the album has sold 208,000 copies in the U.S.[49]

On 7 November 2020, Daigle sang as part of Sean Feucht's "Let Us Worship" tour protesting COVID-19 restrictions.[50] Her participation elicited criticism from New Orleans mayor LaToya Cantrell. Cantrell indicated that she believed Daigle should not be allowed to sing as part of Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years' Eve, which was set to be recorded in New Orleans.[51] Daigle responded with a statement that said she was riding her bike when she saw the worship protest and "was asked to sing." She said she was "disappointed that my spontaneous participation has become part of the political discourse and I’m saddened by the divisive agendas of these times." Daigle also stated that while she had been under consideration for the New Year's Eve recording, she had not been officially part of the lineup. Dick Clark Productions confirmed Daigle's statement about her participation in the New Year's recording.[52][53]