How a supposed butt dial turned into a Grammy nomination for Danny Gokey
Christian singer Danny Gokey thought his record-label representative was “butt dialing” him. It was 7:45 a.m., and Gokey had just dropped his son off at school. Gokey doesn’t hear from the man that much, and he almost declined the call. But he didn’t.
“I was, ‘Hey, what’s up Jason?’” Gokey recalled. “And he was like, ‘Hello Grammy-nominated Danny Gokey.’”
Gokey was nominated for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album for his sophomore Christian album “Rise.” The singer, who rose to fame on “American Idol” in 2009,” said the news “flipped my lid.”
“I kept telling my wife, I was putting Grammy-nominated in front of everything,” Gokey laughed. “‘Honey, do you want me to make you Grammy-nominated coffee? Do you want a Gram-
my-nominated kiss?’ I couldn’t believe that I had a nomination.”
In Sunday’s ceremonies, Zach Williams won the category for “Chain Breaker.”
“Rise” is Gokey’s follow-up to his popular Christian music debut, “Hope in Front of Me,” which was released in 2014.
“‘Rise’ is a record that’s raw, it’s soulful, it’s my experiences packed into entertainment,” Gokey said. “As humans, we experience every different feeling in life — joy, sadness, tragedy. It’s one of those things I poured into my music and for my peers to acknowledge it and give me a nod, I didn’t expect that. I really didn’t, but I’m so grateful.”
— Cindy Watts, USA Today Network-Tennessee