This weekend's Grammy Awards will feature a historical performance by a Christian group, the first to be showcased in 20 years.
This year's Grammy Awards ceremony, which will be held on Sunday, April 3 at at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, will feature a historic performance by Maverick City. This will be the first time a Christian group will perform during the ceremony in 20 years.
"It brings us so much joy to share that we're taking the stage for the first time at the [Grammy Awards] on Sunday, April 3rd!" the eight-piece band wrote on their Instagram account. The historic moment is the first time in 20 years that a Gospel or Christian artist has been televised and the first time an artist has been nominated in up to four categories across two genres.
The Christian group, which made its debut in 2019 with the release of two EPs, added, "All the glory and praise goes to Jesus! We can't wait to worship and celebrate this special moment with you..."
According to CBN News, the five-time Grammy-nominated group will perform their hit worship song, "Jireh." Maverick City remarked, "Blessed is an understatement for how we feel about all #Jireh is doing in this moment - we're making history." The group also expressed excitement over their journey that they continue to share with their listeners and audiences.
Relevant Magazine reported that the last time a Gospel performance was featured in the Grammy Awards ceremony was in 2002, when Brian McKnight, Al Green, Hezekiah Walker, and Cece Winans came together for a Gospel medley.
In this year's Grammy Awards, Maverick City Music is being honored with a nomination for Best Gospel Performance or Song for "Wait On You" with Elevation Worship and Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for "Man Of Your Word" and "Jireh" with Elevation Worship, contemporary worship music band from Charlotte, North Carolina. Maverick City is also up for the Best Gospel Album for "Jubilee: Juneteenth Edition," which was released in June 2021, and Best Contemporary Christian Music Album for "Old Church Basement," a collaboration Elevation Worship that was released in April 2021.
The group was founded in 2018 to write and record Christian praise music, but did not expect to gain massive popularity across the U.S. Artist Chandler Moore told KGPE-TV in September 2021 that they began "writing sessions" that turned into music that the world is now able to hear.
"What we did not intend to happen, happened in a major way," Moore remarked. "We're on a ride that we didn't prepare for, a ride that we didn't really set out to be on, but we're having so much fun and now two years later we're doing a tour which is insane."
The group recently reminisced on how they wrote their hit song "Jireh" and did not expect it to blow up the way it has. They said that the way "God has used this song to bless and minister to so many" has definitely impacted the group in a positive way.
The 64th Annual Grammy Awards will air on Sunday, April 3 at 8 p.m. on CBS.
