Chris Tomlin was joined by Thomas Rhett and Florida Georgia Line for a virtual performance on Wednesday, August 19, on The Late Late Show with James Corden. The singers sang “Thank You Lord,” from the recent Chris Tomlin & Friends album, which came out on July 31.
Chris Tomlin & Friends was co-produced by Florida Georgia Line, becoming a No. 1 record one week after its release. The album includes collaborations with several hit country artists, including Brett Young, Russell Dickerson, Lady A and more.
“Working with the artists on this record has been an incredible dream come true,” Chris said of the project “As our friendships grew from writing the songs together to recording them, we all realized what a powerful role we would each have introducing this music to our respective genres. It’s been really exciting to step into different places that my music would have never gone before.”
Chris Tomlin & Friends was the gospel singer’s way of giving people the opportunity to express their faith outside the boundaries of Christian music.
“I have always felt a calling to help give people a voice to worship God, and for me this record is a step towards breaking down walls and smashing up the genres,” Chris told Everything Nash. “One of my goals is for this music to be accessible to a wider audience and to connect with people that otherwise may have turned away from some of my other music. The way I look at it, music about faith, God, salvation and forgiveness doesn’t only have to come from any one genre.”
The idea for Chris Tomlin & Friends began when FGL’s Tyler Hubbard happened to run into Chris at a gym in Florida, while they were both on vacation.
“I think God took over,” Tyler said during a livestream ahead of the record’s release. “For me, I was like, ‘Let’s just see what door opens.’ I think God was in control the whole time. The fact that we were both in a gym. We’re the only two people at the gym. We’re at the beach … I just think the whole thing is really, really wild, the whole journey, and then how the whole puzzle was put together after that. It was super organic, and it went from just a couple of songwriting sessions to ‘Hey, let’s put out a song,’ to ‘Let’s put out three songs, to ‘Why don’t you just do an album, and why don’t we just bring a bunch of people in, friends of ours, country music artists, outside of your world a little bit.’
“I knew, as much as BK and I had been impacted by you and your life and your music, a lot of our friends have as well, our other artist friends,” he continued. “I felt like it would be a no-brainer, and just a fun project, and it really turned into something bigger than I could have imagined. I’m super grateful for us all having the courage and the bravery to follow the lead here and let the Lord work a little bit.”
Chris Tomlin & Friends is available for purchase at ChrisTomln.com.
