Last February, Elevation Worship invited Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes to Charlotte for a few days to write songs and lead worship together at Elevation Church. Out of one of the songwriting sessions came their hit song, “The Blessing.” Singing it in church just two days after writing it, the song caught on quickly and Elevation Worship, Jobe, and Carnes knew they needed to release the song immediately. The live video of “The Blessing” was filmed during one of Elevation Church’s services and was posted on YouTube just five days after writing the song. In just a year since the video released, it has more than 44.4 million views, and the song has recently received RIAA Gold Digital Single certification. Elevation Worship included the song on their most recent album, “Graves Into Gardens.” “The Blessing” received a nomination for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song at the 63rd annual GRAMMY® Awards.
Chris Brown of Elevation Worship notes about the unique growth of this song, “There was a whirlwind of momentum and emotion attached to this song from the day we wrote it to quickly releasing it a week later. And it’s been remarkable to see how God’s used “The Blessing” to encourage people all over the world during such a strange and difficult year. I pray it continues to bring hope to families for generations to come.”
The 2020 GMA Dove Award “Worship Song of the Year” has also reached No. 1 at MultiTracks, Praise Charts, Song Select and Planning Center, Worship Together, and No. 11 on the latest CCLI report. Digital platforms have also supported the worldwide momentum as it has been included on Spotify’s US Viral 50 (playlist) and Global Viral 50 playlists in 11 different countries. It was also one of Pandora’s Top 50 Most Thumbed-up songs of 2020. “The Blessing” has been one of the most covered Christian songs on YouTube, with versions representing over 128 countries worldwide.
“It’s the honor of a lifetime to be a part of the journey of this song — from the moment it was written to seeing it impact almost every nation and language across the world in just a few short months,” explains Cody Carnes of the song’s global impact. “I’ve been so encouraged by it in this challenging season of life. Not only by the truth from the scriptures in this song, but also by watching what God can do to bring encouragement and comfort to His people in a season of overwhelming fear and tragedy.”
“The Blessing” has topped the charts in 34 countries and landed Top 5 in 77 countries on Apple Christian and Gospel genre charts. The song has been sung in Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, German, and French cumulatively producing more than 43.2 million YouTube streams as well as successful covers coming from Africa and Southeast Asia.
“This song is very special,” shares Kari Jobe. “I think my favorite thing about the song is hearing my babies sing it around the house. It brings great peace knowing that the very words God said to pray as a blessing still have 100% power today. God is kind and good. I pray this song continues to break through the noise and give a tangible sense of His presence every time it’s played or sung.”
In addition to it being featured on Graves Into Gardens, it is also the title track of Kari Jobe’s latest record “The Blessing (Live).” More than 500,000 copies of the Elevation Worship Records/Essential Worship/Capitol CMG song has truly been a testament of the power of the message during a global pandemic.
