Worship Leader Chris Blue Wins NBC’s ‘The Voice’, Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard

Crowned the winner of the 12th season of NBC’s The Voice on Tuesday, Chris Blue — a worship leader at Cokesbury United Methodist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee – debuts at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Hot Gospel Songs chart (dated June 3) with his version of Tamela Mann‘s “Take Me to the King.” As Mann’s original led the list for 25 weeks in 2012 and 2013, the song is the first to rule the ranking via more than one version (dating to the chart’s 2005 inception).

“King,” which Blue performed on the show’s May 15 episode, competing for coach Alicia Keys’ team, launches with 30,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen Music. It’s only the seventh song to debut at No. 1 and the first since Kirk Franklin’s “Wanna Be Happy?” on Sept. 19, 2015. Before “Happy,” Koryn Hawthorne, a finalist on the The Voice‘s eighth season, launched at No. 1 with her take on the traditional gospel hymn “How Great Thou Art” (April 25, 2015).

excerpt ~ Billboard