Lauren Daigle

Lauren Daigle at the II Eurovision Americas Song Contest

**Lauren Ashley Daigle** (born September 9, 1991) is an American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter. After being signed to the label Centricity Music, she released her debut album, *How Can It Be,* in 2015. It reached No. 1 on the *Billboard* Top Christian Albums chart, has been certified Platinum by the RIAA and produced three No. 1 singles on the *Billboard* Christian Airplay chart ("First", "Trust in You," and "O'Lord").

Daigle's third studio album, *Look Up Child*, was released in September 2018. Bolstered by the pop crossover success of the single "You Say", it went on to debut at No. 3 on the *Billboard* 200 chart, becoming the highest-charting Christian album by a woman in over 20 years, and No. 1 on the Top Christian Albums chart, with 115,000 album-equivalent units sold in the first week. The album's lead single, "You Say", peaked at No. 29 on the *Billboard* 100 chart and has broken the record for the number of weeks at No. 1 on the *Billboard* Hot Christian Songs chart at 35 weeks for any solo artist. The album and single earned Daigle two Grammy Awards.

In addition to two Grammy Awards, Daigle has won seven GMA Dove Awards, five *Billboard* Music Awards, two American Music Awards and has had four No. 1 singles on both the *Billboard* Christian Airplay and Hot Christian Songs chart.

She represented the U.S. Virgin Islands at the II Eurovision Americas Song Contest, in Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, with the song '*You Say*', obtaining the 1st place.

## Biography

### **1991–2010: Early life**

Daigle was born in Lafayette, Louisiana. She was influenced by zydeco, blues, and Cajun music in her environment.

Her mother called her house "The music box" because she was always singing. Daigle did not consider music seriously until contracting infectious mononucleosis. She claims that it was one of the best things that had happened to her.

She was kept out of school for nearly two years. During college prep school, she planned on entering the medical field and do mission work. Daigle attended a charter school and completed a year and a half of class work in six months, graduating early. She took a year off from school and did mission work in Brazil before attending Louisiana State University for Child and Family Studies.

### **2010–2014: Career beginnings**

Daigle started singing in her choir and continued to lead the choir at LSU. She tried out for *American Idol* in 2010 and 2012 after she was encouraged by her family to compete in the singing competition. She was cut just before the final 24 contestants in 2010, 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.

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. She later appeared on North Point Music's album *North Point Beginnings* where she recorded "It is Well" in 2015.

Daigle 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. 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. This led to her singing on the Jason Gray single "Nothing is Wasted". Centricity Music signed her on the label in 2013.

Her 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. Serving as Daigle's solo introduction to the Christian music scene, the single garnered an initial fan-base 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. Daigle released the EP *How Can It Be* in September 2014.

### **2015–2017: *How Can It Be***

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). 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. 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. The album is certified platinum.

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. Both songs achieved the No. 1 spot on the NCA radio chart. "Come Alive (Dry Bones)" peaked at No. 5 on the *Billboard* Christian Airplay chart.

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. This was also the first K-Love Fan Award for her label, Centricity Music. 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. 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"). That year she also won two K-Love Fan Awards, for Artist of the Year and Female Artist of the Year. She received another Grammy nomination in 2017, for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song, for "Trust in You". Daigle won Female Artist of the Year at the K-Love Fan Awards in 2017 for the second year in a row.

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".

On October 21, 2016, Daigle 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.

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

In 2017, Daigle was chosen to sing, "Almost Human", for the *Blade Runner 2049: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack*.

### **2018–present: *Look Up Child***

In mid-2015, Daigle was a member of the Outcry Tour along with Hillsong United. She was also part of the Winter Jam Tour 2016 in the central and eastern parts of the United States.

In late 2016, Daigle headlined her first tour, *A Night With Lauren Daigle,* which sold out. She joined for King and Country on their holiday tour later in the year. She was part of the Outcry Tour again in early 2017.

In October 2016, Daigle released her first Christmas album, *Behold: A Christmas Collection*, and reached No. 29 on the *Billboard* 200. In 2017, she was featured in the song "Hard Love" by Needtobreathe for *The Shack*. Daigle co-wrote and performed "Almost Human", the only original song, on the *Blade Runner 2049* soundtrack. The album, produced by Michael Hodges, Kayla Morrison and Ashley Culp, reached No. 1 on the *Billboard* Soundtrack Sales Charts.

Lauren Daigle will perform as part of Austin City Limits in 2019.