Lauren Daigle

Lauren Ashley Daigle (born September 9, 1991) is an American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter.

She tried out for American Idol in 2010 and 2012 after she was encouraged by her family to compete in the singing competition.

She was cut just before the final 24 contestants in 2010, and she did not make it to Hollywood in 2011.

She made it to the Hollywood round in 2012, but was cut in the first Las Vegas round.

She made her debut on North Point InsideOut's album, Hear, where she recorded "Close" and "You Alone" live at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Centricity Music signed her to the label in 2013.

Daigle's first single, "Light of the World," came from the 2013 album Christmas: Joy to the World, a collection of holiday songs from various Centricity artists.

Serving as Daigle's solo introduction to the Christian music scene, the single garnered an initial fanbase and much attention for Daigle.

That year, Daigle was asked to be a part of the Morning Rises Fall Tour with Aaron Shust and Mikeschair.

Daigle released the EP How Can It Be in September 2014.

Daigle was named one of Christian music's break-out artists, and her album's first single "How Can It Be" was named by iTunes as one of the top Christian songs of 2014.

The single "How Can It Be" also reached Top 10 at NCA, AC Monitored, and AC Indicator.

As a whole, the album logged six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Christian Albums Chart.

Eighteen months after its release, How Can It Be achieved Gold Record status.

The album is certified platinum.

The additional singles from How Can It Be also gained success for Daigle.

After being signed to the label Centricity Music, she released her debut album, How Can It Be, in 2015.

It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart, has been certified Platinum by the RIAA and produced three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Christian Airplay chart ("First", "Trust in You", and "O'Lord").

She later appeared on North Point Music's album North Point Beginnings where she recorded "It is Well" in 2015.

She was asked to sing background vocals on an EP for a local band called "The Assemblie" (Darkness Falls and Heartbeat) and the EP was briefly the most sold album in the US iTunes Store.

After the release of the EP, Centricity Music invited her to attend a workshop.

When the singer for the main event at the workshop became ill, she was asked to fill in.

This led to her singing on the Jason Gray single "Nothing Is Wasted".

Daigle's debut full-length album, How Can It Be, was released on April 14, 2015, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard Christian Albums Chart.

The album also broke the Top 20 on the Billboard Top Albums Chart for all genres (No. 16).

Daigle's third studio album, Look Up Child, was released in September 2018.

Bolstered by the pop crossover success of the single "You Say", it went on to debut at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, becoming the highest-charting Christian album by a woman in over 20 years, and No. 1 on the Top Christian Albums chart, with 115,000 album-equivalent units sold in the first week.

The album's lead single, "You Say", peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and has broken the record for the number of weeks at No. 1 on any chart by spending 129 atop the Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart.

The album and single earned Daigle two Grammy Awards.

In addition to two Grammy Awards, Daigle has won seven GMA Dove Awards, five Billboard Music Awards, two American Music Awards, and has had four No. 1 singles on both the Billboard Christian Airplay and Hot Christian Songs chart.

Daigle was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana.

She was influenced by zydeco, blues, and Cajun music in her environment.

Her mother called her house "the music box" because she was always singing.

Daigle did not consider music seriously until contracting cytomegalovirus at age 15.

This diagnosis kept her out of school for the next two years.

During that time, Daigle took voice lessons that provided her with a creative outlet.

During college prep school, she planned to enter the medical field and do mission work.

Daigle attended a charter school and completed a year and a half of class work in six months, graduating early.

She took a year off from school and did mission work in Brazil before attending Louisiana State University (LSU) for Child and Family Studies.

Daigle started singing in her choir and continued to lead the choir at LSU.