Born and raised in Greenville, TX, Bart Millard discovered music after a high school football injury landed him in the school choir. Just a semester into college his father passed away, and Millard, feeling a change was needed, followed his youth pastor's praise band to Lakeland, FL. It was during this time that he formed the ultra-successful Christian rock group MercyMe and relocated to Oklahoma. His first solo album, Hymned No. 1, which fuses traditional gospel, Texas blues, and the Southern hymns of his youth, was released in August of 2005. ~ James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide