Lifer (2017)

Lifer is the 11th studio album by the Christian rock band MercyMe, released on March 31, 2017 by Fair Trade Services/Sony Music. The album was produced by David Garcia and Ben Glover with Solomon Olds co-producing the track "Hello Beautiful." It was recorded in 2016 at four studios in Nashville, Tennessee.

MercyMe returns after a three year absence with Lifer. The band asks the question of what is means to be a "lifer" in the kingdom of God. Amazon's review of this release says "Life is both a noun and a verb. It is the condition that distinguishes humans from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, functional activity, and continual change. It's about how to spend ones' life in a particular way, under particular circumstances, with vitality, vigor, and energy. When we do 'life' from a place of faith in God, we become unstoppable and unwavering. We feel connected to something so much bigger than ourselves and it's that understanding that makes us committed to be Lifer's."

The album's lead single "Even If" was written by the band, along with producers Garcia and Glover, contemporary worship artist Tim Timmons and CCM singer and songwriter Crystal Lewis. Lead singer Bart Millard says "Even If" was written during a deeply personal trying time regarding his son Sam Millard's life-long battle with type 1 diabetes. It serves as a raw, honest declaration that God is worthy of praise and remains a source of hope even when prayers for healing go unanswered and life feels overwhelming (It is also the subject of the 2026 feature motion picture sequel I Can Only Imagine 2). The song is MercyMe's biggest hit since "I Can Only Imagine" and peaked at the top of the Billboard Christian radio charts and the single was Gold certified in 2018 and then Platinum in 2019. "Even If" was the band's longest running number one hit on the Christian AC Airplay chart for 19 consecutive weeks, second only to the 21-week number one streak of their 2003 hit "Word of God Speak" on the same chart. Lifer also scored two more number ones with "Grace Got You" featuring Christian hip-hop artist John Reuben and "Best News Ever."

Lifer is MercyMe's 11th number one album on the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart. It also peaked at number 10 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart giving them their 4th Top 10 album. The album sold 33,000 album equivalent units in its first week, 30,000 of which are pure sales. Lifer became MercyMe's ninth Gold selling album by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It is MercyMe's first album to be released on vinyl, in addition to CD and digital. A deluxe edition of Lifer was sold exclusively at Cracker Barrel stores with three bonus tracks.

In 2018, MercyMe was nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary

Christian Music Album and Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/

Song for "Even If." Also at the Dove Awards, the band was nominated for Artist of the Year and Contemporary Christian Artist of the Year and in 2019 they were nominated for Artist of the Year and Millard was nominated for Songwriter of the Year.

This is MercyMe's final album of the 2010s.

Track listing

All songs written by MercyMe, David Garcia, Ben Glover and Solomon Olds, except where noted.

1. Lifer (MercyMe, David Garcia, Ben Glover) -3:22

2. You Found Me (MercyMe, David Garcia, Ben Glover) -3:32

3. Grace Got You (MercyMe, John Reuben, David Garcia, Ben Glover, Solomon

Olds) -3:36

4. Best News Ever -3:00

5. Even If (MercyMe, Crystal Lewis, Tim Timmons, David Garcia, Ben Glover,

Solomon Olds) -4:16

6. Hello Beautiful -3:20

7. We Win -3:50

8. Happy Dance -2:52

9. Heaven's Here -3:37

10. Ghost -3:40

Personnel

MercyMe:

Bart Millard -lead vocals, backing vocals (tracks 4, 5, 8 and 10), gang vocals

(track 7), ghost vocals on track 10

Barry Graul -guitars, gang vocals on track 7, backing vocals on track 8

Mike Scheuchzer -guitars, gang vocals on track 7, backing vocals on track 8

Nathan Cochran -bass guitar, upright bass on track 6, gang vocals on track 7,

backing vocals on track 8

Robby Shaffer -drums, gang vocals on track 7, backing vocals on track 8

additional musicians:

John Reuben -guest vocals on track 3

Willy Johnson -backing vocals on track 4

David Garcia -keyboards and programming (tracks 1 -4, 6 -10), additional guitars

on track 6

Ben Glover -keyboards, programming and backing vocals (tracks 4, 5, 8 and 10),

gang vocals on track 7

Solomon Olds -keyboard and programming (tracks 3, 4, 6, 8 and 10), gang vocals

on track 7

Fred Williams -keyboards and programming (tracks 2, 4, 5, 9 and 10)

Olandis Gary -SPB on track 4

Bryon "Talkbox" Chambers -clavinet on track 1

brass section on track 8:

Rob Adams -trombone, horn arrangements

Dan Michaels -tenor saxophone

Joshua Harner and Nick Hayes -trumpet

Joe Murphy -tuba

Production credits

David Garcia and Ben Glover -producers (all tracks)

Solomon Olds -co-producer on track 6

RIAA certifications

Gold certified in 2021.

"Even If" single Gold certified in 2018, Platinum certified in 2019.

"Grace Got You" single Gold certified in 2020.

Radio singles

2017 "Even If" -#1 Billboard Hot Christian Songs for 3 weeks, -#1 Billboard Christian

Airplay for 8 weeks, -#1 Billboard Christian AC Airplay for 19 weeks

2018 "Grace Got You" featuring John Reubin -#3 Billboard Hot Christian Songs,

-#1 Billboard Christian Airplay for 5 weeks, -#1 Billboard Christian AC Airplay for

7 weeks

2018 -2019 "Best News Ever" -#4 Billboard Hot Christian Songs, -#1 Billboard

Christian Airplay for 5 weeks, -#1 Billboard Christian AC Airplay for 5 weeks

Previous release: MercyMe, It's Christmas! (2015)

Next release: I Can Only Imagine - The Very Best of MercyMe (2018) (compilation

album)

Listen to the album Lifer including a music video for "Happy Dance" and lyric videos for "Best News Ever," "Even If," "Grace Got You" and "Ghost" :