MercyMe celebrates release of 'Always Only Jesus,' 5x RIAA Platinum certification of 'I Can Only Imagine'

Grammy Award-nominated band MercyMe has a lot to celebrate. Their 11th studio project, “Always Only Jesus” is available now; and their multiformat hit, "I Can Only Imagine," has just received five-times RIAA Platinum certification.

“It’s pretty crazy to be launching our tour this week, release our 11th studio album, and then find out about 'Imagine’s’ five-times Platinum certification," lead vocalist Bart Millard said. "When it released over 20 years ago, we never knew the impact it would have. We are just so grateful we have the opportunity to still make music that we hope will draw people ultimately closer to Jesus.“

It's been a busy week leading up to the release, kicking off with a sold-out crowd at Red Rocks and the band launching its fall tour Thursday night in Sagninaw, Michigan, followed by Millard presenting at the GMA Dove Awards with friend and Super Bowl champion Ben Roethlisberger.

Additionally, MercyMe teamed up with SiriusXM The Message, Channel 63, to allow fans to be the first to hear the album in its entirety on Thursday. The band spoke about the album and shared stories on every song – and even play an acoustic version of “Then Christ Came” from the studio cabin where the album was made. SiriusXM subscribers can listen anytime https://siriusxm.us/MercyMeAlbum.

The 10-song collection on “Always Only Jesus,” the band’s team said, is “filled with the musically inventive, lyrically substantive songs that have always been the bedrock of MercyMe’s decades-long career, including the project's first single, ‘Then Christ Came,’ currently playing on close to 95 stations, rising to No.5 on Billboard's AC Indicator chart and No. 10 on the Billboard AC Monitored chart this week. The song follows an impressive streak of 48 No. 1 radio singles that have not only fueled MercyMe’s 28-year career, but also helped define the landscape of contemporary Christian music. 

“On ‘Always Only Jesus,’ the band has created a poignant album that is perfect for this time and for all time.

“I feel like that’s what we need right now is an anthem that we can all agree on,” guitarist Mike Scheuchzer said. “We may not agree on anything else, but we all agree that it’s 'Always Only Jesus.' That’s why the album feels like anthem after anthem after anthem, because they are all definitive statements about Jesus.”

As MercyMe wraps fall tour dates, they'll join Chris Tomlin on a one-of-a-kind co-headline tour Dec. 1-13: “Chris Tomlin X MercyMe: A Winter Tour.” Tickets for the tour are on sale at tomlinmercyme.com.