Michael Whitaker Smith已经成为Christian Contemporary Music（以下称CCM）公司最受欢迎的音乐人之一，并且也成为相当成功的主流艺术家的代表人物之一。他出生于西佛吉尼亚州的Kenova市，是一位炼油工人的儿子。他十岁的时候就成为一名虔诚的基督徒，青少年时期和一群固定的信徒游走各地进行演出。高中毕业后，这群支持他的伙伴们各奔东西，Smith顿时失去依托，于是染上酒瘾和毒瘾，过了一段放荡不羁的生活。在大学混沌的生活了一年之后，他的歌曲创作才能便体现出来了。1978年，一家作曲公司相中了他的作品，于是他搬去了那希维尔市，与当地诸如玫瑰乐队的这类乐队合作演出。但是他仍旧没有戒掉毒瘾，直到1979年十月份，他遭受了一次情感打击，使他对基督的信仰再次苏醒。第二天，他便与CCM旗下的另一乐队Higher Ground合作，在其中担当一名键盘手。在与乐队巡回演出的过程中，Smith彻底改掉了所有的恶习。 1981年，他作为一名写歌人签至Meadowgreen Music公司，在接下来的几年间，他为像Sandi Patti、Kathy Troccoli、Bill Gaither和Amy Grant这样的艺术家做了许多被世人认可的好作品。1982年他开始作为一名键盘手与Grant巡演，在发行了他的首张专集《The Michael W. Smith Project》之后，他的个人艺术生涯便正式拉开了帷幕。他的首张专集为他赢得了格莱美最佳福音作品奖。在其第二张专集《Michael W. Smith 2》发行之后，Smith名声大震，随后，他便转移了音乐方向，为了赢得更多年轻的听众，于是开始录制以摇滚元素为主的歌曲。他的歌曲风格从而就变的世俗风味较重，并开始打入主流听众的群中。在1991年他的唱片公司Reunion Records允许Geffen Records代他做发行销售工作的情况下，他的第一张主流音乐专集才真正打入市场。两家公司双管齐下，通过广告及各种促销活动来同时吸引CCM和流行乐界的听众。这种情况使Smith的基督乐迷们有些迷惑，他们害怕Smith从此转向世俗音乐而放弃了对上帝的信仰。但是Smith却不这么想，他认为他只是想让更多的人来了解他的音乐，并借此来帮助更多的年轻人。在他的艺术生涯当中，Smith已经获得了德芙和格莱美的授予的嘉奖，并迅速攀登美国广告牌畅销专集榜榜首的位置，同时还被Keyboard杂志列为摇滚乐界最佳键盘手之一。迈克尔.惠特克.史密斯 生于1957年10月7日，是美国的创作歌手、音乐家，作曲家和演员，格莱美奖的获得者，发行多张个人专辑。他被认为是当代基督音乐领域最具影响力和专辑销量最高的音乐人之一，在主流音乐领域也取得了杰出成就。史密斯曾获得3次格莱美奖和34次金鸽奖。在他24年的职业生涯里，他卖出超过1300万张专辑，有29首歌获排行榜冠军，14张金唱片，5张白金唱片。史密斯是美国音乐津贴获得者，被People magazine 评为\\"Most Beautiful People\\"。 他创作的赞美诗有“Draw me close”、“Open the Eyes of my heart”、“Above All”、“I give you my heart”、“More love more power”、“let it rain”、“You are holy”等等。Michael Whitaker Smith是一棵现代福音乐坛的常青树，同时也在主流音乐市场取得了巨大成功。1957年十月出生在 Virginia 的一个炼油工人家家庭，十岁便成为了一个基督徒，并开始参加由一些虔敬基督徒组成的音乐团体。进入大学以后，他开始着重锤炼他的歌曲创作技艺。1978年，一家音乐创作公司对他的音乐产生了兴趣，于是他去了Nashiville与包括Rose在内的一些当地乐队合作。1979年他到一家新成立的福音组合Higher Ground试音，成为了一个键盘手。在组合的巡演中，Smith展露出他的音乐才华。1981年，Michael成为了Meadowgreen 唱片公司的歌曲作者。在接下来了几年中，他分别为 Sandi Patti, Kathy Troccoli, Bill Gaither和Amy Grant等人写出了脍炙人口的热门曲。1982年Michael作为键盘手参与了Amy Grant的巡演。 1983年Michael推出了个人首张专辑《The Michael W .Smith Project》，初试啼声就为他赢来了格莱美大奖的最佳福音音乐表现奖。成为万众瞩目的他再接再厉发行了第二张专辑《Michael W. Smith 2》。之后改变音乐方向他为赢得青少年歌迷而创作了很多摇滚风格的歌曲，并得到了大唱片公司Geffen 的协助使他在自己的独立厂牌Reunion所创作的音乐很快打入主流音乐市场。Geffen的市场宣传攻势使他的音乐在福音音乐圈与主流音乐圈都产生了巨大反响。这引起了一些福音歌曲迷的担忧，他们不希望Smith变得更加流行商业化，但是Smith并不这么看，他声称他希望让更多人听到他的音乐，希望他所带来的福音能给年轻人以帮助与启发。而这变革也使唱片能同时赢得福音音乐的Dove大奖和主流音乐的格莱美大奖，而他也被键盘音乐杂志评为最好的键盘手之一。Michael在音乐上继续延续着他的神话，总共拥有25首冠军歌曲并卖掉了700万张唱片拷贝。而他的新专辑纯器乐演奏的 Freedom 也反映了他不灭的纯洁音乐理念。这张在爱尔兰制作完成的唱片，在爱尔兰电影管弦乐团的伴奏与古典钢琴的编排下将Smith的动人歌曲演绎得淋漓尽致。 富音乐细胞的基督艺术家麦可.史密斯Michael W. Smith发行的第十四张专集《Freedom》使乐界震惊.在二十年的获奖经历中，Smith已赢得了多项单曲及黄金销售奖项，而这张专集的真正惊人之处在于：这是Smith发行的第一张器乐专集。专集同名主打曲目融合了鼓声的抑扬顿挫，原声哨音的朴实音调以及跌宕起伏的弦乐演奏，这营造了一种极为宽广活跃的音域。专集中收录的乐曲大多以Michael自己演奏的钢琴曲调为主，并伴以弦乐器的配合，体现出一种怀旧感。这些动人的乐章有着大不列颠帝国风情的影子，而经典的交响乐声又在这古朴之中增添了现实的美感。专集中的惊人之作包括有Smith对古老民歌“Thy Word”的重新演绎，以及电子乐风格浓重“The Call”，在这首曲子中，Smith亲自献声演唱。我们在过去的专集中对Smith的才华已有所了解，而这张《Freedom》则更进一步的挖掘了Micheal W. Smith的创作潜力，正有待听众全身心的投入欣赏。by Sandra BrennanMichael Whitaker Smith became one of the most enduringly popular artists on the contemporary Christian music front and also found considerable success as a mainstream artist. He was born in Kenova, West Virginia, the son of an oil refinery worker and a caterer. He became a devout Christian at age ten and spent his teens hanging around with a solid support group of fellow believers who frequently gathered to play and make music. After high school, that support group split up, and Smith turned to alcohol, drugs and wild times. He scraped through a couple semesters of college and began honing his songwriting skills. In 1978, a songwriting company expressed interest in his songwriting, and he moved to Nashville, where he played with local bands, including Rose. He was still heavily into drugs and continued using until October 1979, when he suffered a sort of emotional mental breakdown that culminated in recommitting to Christ. The next day he auditioned for a new CCM group, Higher Ground, as a keyboardist. While touring with them, Smith cleaned up his act. In 1981, he signed to Meadowgreen Music as a staff writer, where over the next few years he provided gospel hits for such artists as Sandi Patti, Kathy Troccoli, Bill Gaither and Amy Grant. He began touring as a keyboardist with Grant in 1982 and the following year, after releasing his first album, The Michael W. Smith Project, became her opening act. His debut album garnered him a Grammy nomination for Best Gospel Performance. Smith became a headliner following the release of his second album, Michael W. Smith 2. Afterwards, he changed musical directions and began recording more rock-oriented music in order to reach a younger audience. As a result, some of his songs became more secular and began breaking through to mainstream audiences. His first real shot at mainstream music came in 1991 when his label, Reunion Records, allowed Geffen Records to distribute his albums. They chose a two-pronged promo campaign with ads designed to appeal to both CCM audiences and to the mainstream pop audience. This has caused some controversy among his more religious fans, who feared that Smith was selling out to the more lucrative secular market, but Smith saw it differently, claiming that he is really only trying to get his message out to a wider audience and to help young people. Over his career, Smith has won both Dove and Grammy Awards, has topped Billboard charts and has been hailed by Keyboard magazine as one of the top keyboardists in rock.Continuing his musical reign into the new millennium, Michael W. Smith had sold more than seven million records and had 25 number one hits. And Smith's undying commitment to music came with his first instrumental record entitled Freedom. This album, which was recorded in Ireland, featured backing from the Irish Film Orchestra Limited and contained Smith's personal songs composed with his classic piano arrangements. The live albums Worship and Worship Again arrived in 2001and 2002. 2004 saw the release of Healing Rain, Smith's first recording of new studio material since the turn of the millenium.