JENNIFER TAYLOR | MUSIC CONTRIBUTOR
MICHAEL W. SMITH 35 YEARS – ONE MESSAGE I feel like my best days are ahead... my best work has not come yet.
HIS LIST OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS DURING HIS 35+ YEARS AS AN ACCLAIMED SINGER/SONGWRITER AND PIANIST ARE ASTONISHING. He’s written more than 35 number one hits that led to three GRAMMYs, 45 Dove Awards plus many more honors, and has sold more than 18 million albums. He’s performed for presidents, leaders and soldout crowds around the world. However, Michael W. Smith’s most proud accomplishments are being husband to his wife, Deborah, father to their five children, and Gdaddy to their 15 grandchildren, all that he affectionately calls “The Beautiful Chaos.”
“Whether or not I want to call myself the patriarch, I really am at this point. My dad went to heaven three and a half years ago, and I have this huge family. I better do it well because they’re all watching me,” he said. “So, I’ve got a chance to influence their lives. Doing the whole career, GRAMMYs and awards pale in comparison to family. That keeps it all in perspective.”
It’s a God Thing In 1978, the West Virginia-born Smith moved to Nashville to write songs and play the piano. He soon became the pianist for Amy Grant, wrote his famous song “Friends” that released on The Project in 1983, and the rest, as they say, is history. “You can’t orchestrate this kind of stuff. It’s just a God thing. There’s no ‘I was in the right place at the right time.’ It’s only Him. I’m a piano player. I wrote a song called ‘Friends.’ I guess somehow over the years I have learned how to
36 leadinghearts.com
