Charlie Puth recently reflected on his appreciation for the Church and its impact on his Grammy-winning music during an appearance on "The Terrell Show," where he surprised viewers by singing Richard Smallwood’s gospel staple “The Center of My Joy.”
During the interview, the 34-year-old singer sang a portion of the 1980 song, which includes the lyrics “Jesus, You're the center of my joy/ All that's good and perfect comes from You/ You're the heart of my contentment.”
“Pause. How do you know that song?” a surprised Terrell asked Puth, who in response, walked through its chord progressions and shared his appreciation of gospel and church-inspired sounds.
“Because I appreciate all things church,” Puth said. “We gotta get the ’90s. Like that chord, I first heard that chord on this record Talking Book by Stevie Wonder.”
“I was always fascinated with that chord, and I always wondered where it came from,” he said. “It’s kind of a jazz-ish kind of thing without going too deep into it.”
After continuing with the chorus, Puth noted that when it comes to music, listeners’ emotional responses come from a deeper place.
“It does something to me,” he said. “I think that visceral reaction that you had just now when I did … it’s all present in the chords. And then when you add lyrics on top of it, it’s like cherry on top.”
When Terrell commented, “There’s a language in chords, it makes you feel all kinds of emotions,” Puth agreed, adding that for him, the music itself drives that connection.
“I grew up in Roman Catholic Church, which is a bit different,” he said. “Which is fine. It’s great in its own right, but I was always wondering, there has to be another level.”
Puth, a New Jersey native, previously shared with "Armchair Expert host Dax Shepherd" how his parents discovered his musical talent after he shocked his church congregation by playing an entire mass from memory.
“I think my parents knew I was artsy and musical when I went to Catholic school, which meant I went to Catholic Church,” the “One Call Away” singer said in the podcast interview. “That was the deal. I would hear the same music, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy Lord.’ I would hear the same music over and over every Sunday, sometimes three times a week.
"I remember one day, the church organist didn't show up. I looked at everybody and said, ‘Don't put the tape on. I've memorized it because I heard it so many times,’ and everyone looked at me like an alien … I was 11 or 12.”
“I played the whole mass from memory,” he continued. “It wasn't like a cocky thing. It's just like, I've heard enough times, I know how to do it. … My parents are like, ‘OK, we're going to go get your brain tested, see what's going on up there.’’
In a July interview with The Christian Post, gospel legend CeCe Winans reflected on how CCM and gospel music have the ability to reach beyond the walls of the church.
“There’s power in music when it’s negative and when it’s positive,” she said. “That’s why it’s so important when we sing the gospel. … It’s in those darkest moments that it matters most.”
“People being encouraged, people understanding that even though things didn’t turn out the way you thought they would, God loves you, and He’s in the midst of the fire with you. He’s in the midst of the flood with you,” she added.
Winans, who, with her brother, BeBe, were among the first gospel artists to experience crossover success, stressed that the genre's future must remain tethered to its spiritual roots even as it sees more mainstream success.
“Our prayer, and I'm sure I can speak for BeBe, is the same as it’s always been,” the Grammy-winning singer said. “That gospel music will continue to spread and to reach those who are outside of the church, to bring them in. That’s the whole goal: to reach people for Christ, to reach them with the love of God, the peace of God.”
