Singer Zach Williams Reveals Memories Of Billy Graham Inspired New Song
By Movieguide® Contributor
Christian rock artist Zach Williams recently shared details behind his inspiration for his new song ‘Like A Billy Graham Revival.’
“[I try] to write songs that connect with people,” Williams explained. “I feel like if I can write what God’s putting on my heart using a real-life experience, then hopefully it connects with somebody in a way that brings them closer to Him.”
His new song is inspired by his own memories of watching Billy Graham on television when he was young.
“I wanted to write a song that honored what [Graham] had done and what he stood for and who he was—and [showed] that things could be better if we had something like that come through again,” Williams explained.
The singer spoke of his admiration of Graham, saying, “From everything that I’ve seen, from the people that I’ve talked to … [Mr. Graham] was the same person on and offstage.”
Williams wrote “Like A Billy Graham Revival” alongside his producer Jonathan Smith and songwriter Tom Douglas.
“We just started talking about where we’re at in our world, what’s going on … [and] the things you see,” Williams shared. “[People are] trying to take God out of everything around us. What the world really needs is a … revival again. We tried to fill that [song] with all the sights and sounds that might have been at a Billy Graham revival.”
So, what does Williams hope listeners get out of the song?
For those who remember when Graham was on TV, the singer hopes it “strikes a nostalgia kind of chord with them and takes them back to some of those moments in their life.”
As for the younger generation, Williams said that he hopes the song will encourage listeners to research Graham’s ministry.
“My prayer is maybe they don’t know who Billy Graham is … maybe they’ll go, search, and look him up and see some of these old revivals and Crusades that he was a part of and feel the same thing that I felt,” Williams shared. “I think it’s gonna take something like that [again to] kind to wake the world up.”
Movieguide® previously reported on Williams’ music, including his Grammy-nominated track with Dolly Parton:
As music artists await the 63rd annual Grammy Awards results, Christian artist Zach Williams said he is “shocked” at his fifth career nomination.
“I didn’t realize it had been five nominations already, I was pretty shocked about it,” Williams toldCBN of his nomination for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song.
Williams performed his nominated song “There Was Jesus” with music icon Dolly Parton.
“This is very much my story if I think back to the last 20 years that it took me to get to where I’m at in my life,” Williams said. “Even if I go back further than that to my childhood, I think about all these moments that I missed in my life…now I can look back and see that God was in the middle of every one of them and working out the details. It’s just a special song.”
Williams recalled that Parton recognized immediately that the song was “special.”
“I wrote the song with a couple other people and when we got the demo back, I heard this girls voice on it that just reminded me of Dolly Parton’s and I said ‘wouldn’t it be really cool if we could get Dolly Parton to really sing on this.’ Everybody kind of laughed but we tracked down her management and she agreed to listen to the song. The day that I met her, she told me that she didn’t even make it to the chorus and she knew it was special,” Williams said.
“I found out that this is Dolly’s 50th GRAMMY nomination,” Williams added. “I thought how cool to be in this with her… it’s just a special song.”
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