59 hits created 52 weeks of Top 10 Christian hit music charts based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay. Here it is – my Top 21 hits of 2021:
| RK | PK | WKS | SONG TITLE | ARTIST / SITE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 27 | Fires | Jordan St. Cyr |
| 2 | 1 | 23 | Yes He Can | Cain |
| 3 | 1 | 21 | Every Step Of The Way | Cade Thompson |
| 4 | 1 | 20 | What If | Matthew West |
| 5 | 1 | 27 | Gospel Song | Rhett Walker |
| 6 | 1 | 18 | Help Is On The Way (Maybe Midnight) | TobyMac |
| 7 | 1 | 15 | When We Fall Apart | Ryan Stevenson Ft. Vince Gill & Amy Grant |
| 8 | 1 | 14 | Say I Won’t | MercyMe |
| 9 | 1 | 14 | Good God Almighty | Crowder |
| 10 | 1 | 12 | Into The Wild | Josh Baldwin |
| 11 | 2 | 13 | House Of The Lord | Phil Wickham |
| 12 | 2 | 14 | Truth Be Told | Matthew West |
| 13 | 2 | 14 | Child Of Love | We The Kingdom Ft. Bear Rinehart |
| 14 | 2 | 11 | Out Of My Hands | Jeremy Camp |
| 15 | 1 | 9 | On Our Way | MercyMe Ft. Sam Wesley |
| 16 | 2 | 11 | Thank You Lord | Chris Tomlin Ft. Thomas Rhett & FGL |
| 17 | 1 | 9 | Promised Land | TobyMac |
| 18 | 1 | 11 | Be Alright | Evan Craft X Danny Gokey X Redimi2 |
| 19 | 2 | 13 | God Who Listens | Chris Tomlin Ft. Thomas Rhett |
| 20 | 2 | 12 | Come What May | We Are Messengers |
| 21 | 2 | 9 | In The House | Crowder |
# 1 For The Year In:
2020 – “Almost Home” – MercyMe
2019 – “Nobody (But Jesus)” – Casting Crowns Ft. Matthew West
2018 – “Do It Again” – Elevation Worship
2017 – “Broken Things” – Matthew West
JORDAN ST. CYR – An unknown in 2020 – he became known in 2021 with his sleeper smash of the year – “Fires”. It entered my chart on the 4TH week of 2021 in January, and it slowly reached the top in its 14TH week. But its chart run was only half-done. After 3 weeks at # 1 its slow descent began, and it finally slipped-off my chart after 27 weeks at the start of August. “Fires” is (by far) my # 1 smash of 2021, and Jordan’s future is bright. His “Weary Traveler” is my current # 1 smash.
RHETT WALKER – Another long-running sleeper smash in 2021 was Rhett Walker’s “Gospel Song”. It tied with “Fires” for most weeks on my chart in 2021 at 27. It was on from April to October. Rhett is no debut artist. His “Believer” was a # 4 hit in December 2019, and a couple of his early radio hits from 2012 and 2013 – “When Mercy Found Me” and “Come To The River” – still receive occasional radio airplay. But “Gospel Song” dominated the airwaves in 2021.
MERCYME – My # 2 artist of the past 254 weeks – MercyMe – scored my # 1 smash of 2020 with “Almost Home”. Its follow-up – “Say I Won’t” – and its follow-up – “On Our Way” – both hit # 1 in 2021 (for a combined 11 weeks) and appear on my year-end chart. MercyMe have appeared on every year-end chart – aside from 2019. (“Even If” was my # 2 hit of 2017, and “Grace Got You” was my # 2 hit of 2018.)
MATTHEW WEST – My # 1 artist of the past 254 weeks – Matthew West – makes it 5 years in a row on my year-end chart, and this year (like last year) he places 2 hits on it – including “Truth Be Told”. Its 26 weeks on my chart straddled both 2020 (12 weeks) and 2021 (14 weeks). It was my # 18 hit of 2020 and my # 12 hit of 2021.
CONCLUSION – My Top 21 Of 2021 chart was compiled by awarding 10 points for each week at # 1, 9 points for # 2, and so forth and so on down to 1 point for # 10. The points were then added, and the hits were ranked. There were 14 # 1 hits in 2021, and all but the current one (Jordan St. Cyr’s “Weary Traveler”) made it onto my chart above. It was a great year for positive and encouraging music on the radio that told the story of God and gave Him all of the glory. What a great chart to represent His music. Let’s continue to praise and worship Him as we go forth into 2022.
This concludes my month-long series of special blog posts on Wednesdays. Starting in January weekends return to starting on Thursdays with 4 blog posts each weekend. #TravelThursday and #RetroFriday close-out 2021 this week.
All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries
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