This Christian tune caught everyone by surprise when it accomplished something extraordinary: It became a smash hit not only on Christian but on mainstream radio as well, becoming what Deadline called the "most played Christian radio single in history."
A decade later, "I Can Only Imagine," the popular song by Christian band Mercy Me, continues to make waves. And now, as a testimony of the song's evergreen popularity, a faith-based movie by the same title is being produced starring actors Dennis Quaid, Trace Adkins and Cloris Leachman, among other familiar Hollywood names.
The movie's release date is still far away—Spring 2018—but already, anticipation is building up. The movie is based on the life of Mercy Me lead singer Bart Millard and inspired by the hit song, according to Deadline.
It will be directed by Jon and Andrew Erwin, the popular filmmaking brothers known for previous Christian-themed features such as "Woodlawn," "Moms' Night Out" and "October Baby."
The members of Mercy Me said they were totally taken by surprise when "I Can Only Imagine" electrified the airwaves, drawing the attention of music fans everywhere, even those outside the Christian circle.
The song includes overtly Christians lines like, "Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still" and "Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all" — lines that normally don't appeal to non-Christian music lovers.
That's why the band was stunned when they heard their song being played on mainstream radio, The Blaze reported.
While the song was originally released in 1999 in Christian circles, it was new to mainstream radio listeners when some disc jockeys reportedly decided to play the song on their show as a joke.
The resulting public response stunned them. Suddenly, the disc jockeys' phone lines lit up with people asking for "I Can Only Imagine" to be played again...and again.
Millard said something about the song's Jesus message grabbed the public's attention.
"Word just started getting out. Our label didn't know what to do with it. How do you even promote this?" he said. "They agreed to send a copy to the stations and say, 'Play it once and if you don't get a reaction just throw it out.'"
The popularity of the song kept on growing, topping charts across America and inspiring mainstream radio listeners in the way nobody expected.
