The Most-Played Christian Songs of 2023
By Rebecca Abbott
If you can’t get Lauren Daigle’s hit song Thank God I Do out of your head, there’s a good reason: it was the most-played song on Australian Christian radio in 2023.
US singer/songwriter Daigle was also named Australia’s favourite Christian artist, with her other tracks These Are The Days, New and Waiting also making the list of the top 100 songs on Australian Christian radio in 2023 compiled by Today’s Christian Music (TCM) Countdown.
“This should come as no surprise to anyone who listens to Christian radio in Australia,” says TCM Charts founder and researcher Wes Jay, noting that Thank God I Do spent nine weeks at number one and 27 weeks in the weekly chart. Daigle also previously took out TCM Song Of The Year in 2021 with Hold On To Me.
“Listeners to Australian Christian radio today regard Daigle as a ‘core Christian artist’, meaning they love hearing her songs played regularly. These include the current tunes plus recurrent and gold tracks like You Say, Look Up Child, Still Rolling Stones, and How Can It Be,” adds Jay.
A total of 13 songs in the Top 100 list are from Aussie artists, with For King & Country (the most-played artists of 2022) and Indie singer/songwriter John Newsome being the only two Aussie acts to make the top 30.
For King & Country charted with What Are We Waiting For and Love Me Like I Am, while Newsome’s song Speak came in at number 16 on the most-played list (with another of his tunes, Not Giving Up, ranking at 65).
New Aussie artists to make the top 100 in 2023 included Bella Taylor Smith (with her song Small Things), Lija (with Save Me) and Nathan Fawcett (with Made In Your Image). Taylor Smith also joined 2023’s top 50 artists list, along with Newsome and For King & Country, as well as other Aussie artists, Taya, Matt Lucas, Planetshakers and Emma Mullings.
US singer Svrcina – a newcomer to Aussie radio – was the only artist to score two hits in the top 10 of 2023’s most-played songs. Her song Something Beautiful ranked in fifth place and Next Generation came in at number 10.
Meanwhile, says Jay, “perennials like tobyMac, Needtobreathe, Colton Dixon, The Afters, Tauren Wells, Danny Gokey, and Natalie Grant still score significant airplay after more than a decade on Australian radio playlists.”
Article supplied with thanks to Eternity News.
Feature image: Lauren Daigle. Photo by Jeremy Cowart / Atlantic Records