Carrie Underwood's powerful, soulful vocals will give you chills in this throwback performance of "How Great Thou Art" with fellow Nashville star Vince Gill. She covered the Christian hymn with Gill during ACM's Girl's Night Out: Superstar Women of Country celebration in 2011. The evening was a tribute to superstar women who helped pave the way for other female singers in the country music industry.
Gill plays guitar and backs up the "Jesus, Take the Wheel" singer on vocals. Her voice soared through each note, and many of the audience members were in tears by the end. It's obvious Underwood and Gill moved everyone in the room with their powerful performance.
Underwood's recording of the song is included on the 2008 compilation How Great Thou Art: Gospel Favorites from the Grand Ole Opry, which includes recordings by Patty Loveless ("Precious Memories"), Alan Jackson ("Blessed Assurance"), Dierks Bentley ("House of Gold") and Brad Paisley ("The Old Rugged Cross").
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"How Great Thou Art" is a Christian hymn that has roots that go back to the 1880s. The song was originally a poem written by Carl Gustav Boberg of Sweden. It was later translated into English by Stuart K. Hine, who then added additional lyrics. In the '50s, Manna Music of California purchased the song and also made some minor lyrical changes. The very first person in the U.S. to professionally record the worship song was Bill Carle in 1958 and the song's popularity soared from there.
There have been several notable singers who have performed their own cover of the classic song. Jackson, Martina McBride, Elvis Presley, Charlie Daniels and Dolly Parton have all taken on the hymn.
Thanks to Underwood and Gill's performance, Underwood's recording of the single hit No. 1 on iTunes Top Gospel Song and Top 40 charts. No surprise there!
Underwood's since recorded an entire gospel album, 2021's My Savior.
'How Great Thou Art' Lyrics:
O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout the universe displayed
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
And when I think of God, His Son not sparing
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And lead me home, what joy shall fill my heart
Then I shall bow with humble adoration
And then proclaim, my God, how great Thou art
This story previously ran on Sept. 30, 2020.
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