page_title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)
section_title: Release and promotion
hierarchical_section_title: I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song) / Release and promotion
caption_attribution_description: Amy Grant at the Peppermill Concert Hall in West Wendover, Nevada as part of her 20th anniversary Lead Me On tour.
context_page_description: "I Can Only Imagine" is a song by Christian rock band MercyMe. Written and composed by lead singer Bart Millard, it was originally recorded for the band's 1999 independent album The Worship Project before being included on their 2001 major-label debut album Almost There. The song was the last to be written for The Worship Project; in writing it, Millard drew upon his thoughts about his father's death. Lyrically, it imagines what it would be like to be in front of God in heaven; it opens with just a piano before building to include guitar and drums.
  After being released on October 12, 2001, as the second single from Almost There, "I Can Only Imagine" became a major success on Christian radio; it spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Radio & Records Christian AC chart and became the most-played Christian single of 2002. It became an unexpected mainstream hit in 2003, peaking at No. 71 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 5 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart while also hitting top 40, adult top 40, and country radio charts.
context_section_description: Originally, "I Can Only Imagine" was set to be released by fellow Christian artist Amy Grant. Millard had initially declined a request from Grant's record label to allow her to record the song; some segments of the Christian community had reacted negatively to her divorce, and Millard wasn't sure if he wanted to be involved. After consulting with his pastor, who felt Millard should accept the opportunity, he began to reconsider, and finally agreed to let her cover it after talking with Grant over the phone. Grant had planned to release her version of the song as the lead single from her upcoming album and MercyMe would release a different song as their first single, hoping to capitalize on having written what would presumably become a major hit for Grant. The band released their first single from Almost There, "Bless Me Indeed (Jabez's Song)", which performed poorly at Christian radio, leading to poor sales of the album. Plans were made to release another single from the record, but the band's manager, Scott Brickell, decided to reach out to Grant to see if she still planned to release her version as a single. Grant gave MercyMe her blessing to release the song as a single and signed the rights back to the band; "I Can Only Imagine" was released on October 12, 2001, as the album's second single.
  The song debuted on the Christian AC chart on November 2, 2001, reached the No. 1 position on February 22, 2002, and spent two weeks at the top spot. It also peaked at No. 15 on the Radio & Records Christian CHR chart. The song became the most-played song on Christian radio in 2002. As a result of its success on radio, Almost There experienced a "surge" in sales, debuting on the Billboard 200 in December 2001 and entering the top ten on the Christian Albums chart in January 2002. The song stayed on Christian radio for so long that plans to release a third single from Almost There were cancelled, with the band instead beginning work on a new album.
  In 2003, a Dallas mainstream radio station, 100.3 Wild-FM, played the song on its morning show, The Fitz Radio Program. They had responded to a caller's repeated requests and the urgings of the program's producer, Todd Sheppard, a former seminary student. Although it had been played almost as joke, it soon became the most requested and most played song on the station. After hearing the song played on the station, Millard called-in and spoke with the crew, and MercyMe then came in and played the song live. Big Gay Steven, one of the show's hosts, described their audience's response to the song as "overwhelming". As other mainstream stations around the country began to play the song, MercyMe's label, INO Records, partnered with Curb Records to market the single to mainstream radio. Its initial success was seen as surprising due to its overtly religious themes, although several other Christian artists had begun achieving mainstream success at the same time, including Stacie Orrico, whose singles "Stuck" and "(There's Gotta Be) More to Life" had both hit the Billboard Hot 100. Curb began to promote the song to adult contemporary and Top 40 radio, and INO and Curb released a double A-side physical single, "I Can Only Imagine/Word of God Speak", in September 2003.
  "I Can Only Imagine" debuted on the Adult Contemporary chart on May 23, 2003, eventually peaking at No. 5 for the chart week of September 8, 2003. "I Can Only Imagine" spent 30 weeks on the chart. The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 for the chart week of October 11, 2003 at No. 76. The song peaked at No. 71 and spent 16 non-consecutive weeks on the chart. "I Can Only Imagine" also peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales chart, a component chart of the Billboard Hot 100 that ranks the best-selling physical single releases, for 10 weeks. During the week of November 22, 2003, it became the first No. 1 physical single to be outsold by the highest-selling digital single of the week; for that week, "I Can Only Imagine" sold 7,500 physical copies in the United States while Outkast's "Hey Ya!" sold 8,500 digital downloa
caption: Amy Grant, originally given the rights to release "I Can Only Imagine" as a single, gave the rights back to MercyMe in 2001. She later released her version of "I Can Only Imagine" in 2002, pairing it in a medley with "Sing the Wondrous Love of Jesus".[55]
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