American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter Lauren Ashley Daigle (/de.l/; born September 9, 1991) was born on that day. After being discovered, she signed with Centricity Music, and in 2015 she dropped her first album, titled How Can It Be.
It has been certified Platinum by the RIAA, topped the Billboard Top Christian Albums list, and spawned three No. 1 songs on the Billboard Christian Airplay chart (“First,” “Trust in You,” and “O’Lord”).
Released in September of 2018, Look Up Child is Daigle’s third full-length album. The single “You Say” served as a pop crossover hit, helping the album rocket to a No. 3 debut on the Billboard 200 chart, making it the highest-charting Christian album by a woman in over 20 years. It also debuted at No. 1 on the Top Christian Albums chart, selling 115,000 album equivalents in its first week.
Single “You Say” from the album has spent a record-breaking 129 consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart, and it peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100. Daigle won two Grammys for this album and single.
Controversy
An unexpected issue regarding homosexuality came up during an interview with the American Christian who has topped the secular charts this year in the United States.
Lauren Daigle’s popularity skyrocketed after her album Look Up Child debuted at #3 on the US Billboard 200 list and her lead song, “You Say,” peaked at #44. Daigle first found success in the Christian music charts.
The album topped the charts in both the US and UK Christian music categories. Within the first eight minutes of the conversation, after discussing the criticism she receives for the clothes she wears when leading worship, Nati said:
“Sorry to put you through this, Lauren, but I like to ask challenging questions. If it’s all okay with you, I have a couple more in-depth questions I’d want to run by you and see if you’re up for answering them.
And her response was, “Ok, cool.” “Well, since we were discussing Ellen DeGeneres do you believe that homosexuality is a sin?” She hesitated and then said: “The truth is, I don’t know how to respond to that.
A lot of the people I care about are gay, and I just don’t know what to do about it. I was just talking to someone about this very topic last night, and I told them, “I can’t answer one way or the other, I’m not God.” This is the answer I give whenever someone poses a question like that to me. I’ll just tell you to study the Bible and figure it out for yourself; then, when you do, be sure to let me know because I’m still learning myself.”
Amazing, I tell him; you must be an old hand by now. He then asks her a question regarding the Me Too movement, to which she replies that she doesn’t feel personally harmed.
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Daigle Responds Towards the End of The Interview
“Dominick, this is amazing, thanks for keeping it honest.” There has been some pushback since the interview against both Dominick Nati for asking the topic and Lauren Daigle for allegedly avoiding it.
Popular Christian blogger John Wesley Reid penned: “Okay, now I see it. To put it mildly, you were cornered. A huge part of your listeners may tune out if you call homosexuality a sin, so be careful about making that assertion. In other words, I comprehend.
Pastor Carl Lentz of Hillsong Church New York City encountered a similar predicament when he went on The View. He dodged the question by saying, “Before I tell you about what I think sin is, I would like to know your name,” which could be interpreted as either a yes or no to the original inquiry regarding whether he considered abortion to be a sin.
“Lentz tweeted that he considered abortion to be a sin in the face of swift criticism, but that he was afraid of alienating many people who weren’t Christians and could have benefited from his counsel. You may count on my recommendation that you “do likely.”
A Word from Nati:
“It’s disheartening to see the negative reaction our interview with Lauren Daigle has elicited online. When someone said, “I don’t know,” I couldn’t believe how many people immediately assumed the worst about them. Truthfully, YOU aren’t in the know. Both you and I have no idea whether she was being forthright, evasive, or dishonest.”
He Then Says:
“Jesus didn’t address the issue, but I’m aware that Moses and Paul both considered it sinful. The accuracy of Paul’s and Moses’ writings was not ensured by perfect copying and translation. From what we read in John 16:8-9 “When the Holy Spirit finally arrives, He will reveal the truth to the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment.
The fact that they do not trust in Me is a sin.” Not trusting in Jesus is the sin Jesus points to. It’s not our sexual orientation or the sins that keep us from believing, but our lack of faith. No one knows for sure what constitutes sin and what does not, therefore it’s plausible that some people don’t know either. Neither Moses nor Paul nor you nor I nor Lauren Daigle, because we are “not God.”
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Career
With 115,000 A&R equivalent units (of which 103,000 were actual album sales), Look Up Child opened at position three on the US Billboard 200.
It’s not just her highest-charting album, but also the highest-charting Christian album of all time, surpassing Hard Love by Needtobreathe at No. 2 in 2016. Since LeAnn Rimes’ You Light Up My Life reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 1997, this album has become the highest-charting Christian album by a woman.
The 2019 Grammy Awards recognized the effort with the award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album. There have been 208,000 album sales in the United States as of January 2019.