With its sales continuing to demonstrate an upward trend, Casting Crowns is again named Billboard’s Top Christian Album Artist for 2009, for a third consecutive year. The repeated placement at No.1 on the year-end Christian/Gospel chart (12/31/09) solidifies Casting Crowns as the top-selling act in Christian music since 2007.

Selling 167,000 first-week copies, the historical debut of Until The Whole World Hears set a sales record for the group as the highest debuting Christian Music artist in SoundScan history (week ending 11/22/09). The album released as the third strongest album debut in the country on Billboard’s Top 200 chart behind John Mayer and Norah Jones. With 44, 845 units sold this week, Until The Whole World Hears is No.1 for a fourth week on Nielsen SoundScan Current Contemporary Christian Album chart. At radio, the title track claimed a third week at No. 1 on Billboard’s AC-Monitored chart, marking a ninth career chart-topping song for Casting Crowns.

Last month, the band’s 2008 Christmas album Peace on Earth also certified RIAA Gold. The Christmas album continues a strong run with the week’s 59, 865 units sold, and is named the No. 5 best-selling album of 2009 on Billboard’s Top Christian Albums year-end chart (12/31/09). Both Until The Whole World Hears and Peace on Earth remain top performers on the national Billboard Top 200 chart, at No. 31 and 22 respectively, for week ending 12/13/09, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The RIAA Gold certification of Until The Whole World Hears adds a third Gold album to the band’s collection. To date, all of the Atlanta-based band’s projects are RIAA certified, with a monster tally of two RIAA Platinum Albums, two RIAA Platinum DVDs, now three RIAA Gold Albums and a Gold DVD, further establishing its unprecedented six-year career.

With lead singer and award-winning songwriter, Mark Hall’s 18 years in youth ministry, the band’s lyrics are born out of real life situations, inspired by the 400 students and families he has led on a weekly basis since 2001, at Eagles Landing Baptist church. Casting Crowns focuses on discipleship through music in its new chart-topping, 11-song album, giving national audiences a fresh, relevant perspective on loving God and loving people.

Casting Crowns played to 150,000 fans at multiple sell-out performances on the fall leg of its headlining 41-city “Until The Whole World Hears Tour,” and will continue with a spring run in 41 more cities. For tour dates or more information, visit www.providentpress.com, or www.castingcrowns.com.

*Follow the band on Mark Hall’s Twitter at: http://twitter.com/markhallCC. Millions of fans can now stream the band’s entire catalog of music and video from the band’s newly created fan-centric web site, www.crownsfans.com.

About Casting Crowns:
Christian music’s GRAMMY, AMA and five-time Dove Award-winning Group of the Year, Casting Crowns is headed by frontman/principal songwriter Mark Hall. The platinum-selling band’s recent fourth album, Until The Whole World Hears, continues to perform in the top of the sales charts since its Nov. 17 release. The album’s title track marks a ninth career No.1 radio single. The song currently tops multiple Christian radio formats, spending six weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s AC-Indicator radio chart, and a third week at No. 1 on the AC-Monitored chart. In addition, Casting Crowns’ 2008 Christmas album, Peace On Earth (10/7/2008), was recently certified RIAA Gold, and continues to be one of the top-selling Christmas albums of the season. Despite an unprecedented six-year career with Casting Crowns, the seven band members remain active in student ministry in the Atlanta area and tour part-time around their local church duties. Serving his 18th year in youth ministry, Hall is the student pastor at Eagle’s Landing First Baptist Church in Atlanta. As a remarkable occasion, Casting Crowns performed for a second time in North Korea in April 2009, in partnership with Global Resource Services, as the band continues to forge invaluable relationships with the people in the D.P.R.K.

For more information, visit www.providentpress.com, or www.castingcrowns.com.

For more info on Casting Crowns, visit the JFH Artists Database.