Billy Sprague (born July 17, 1952) is an American

Christian pop Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...

singer, songwriter, and producer. Sprague was born in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

, to William Sprague and Oteka (Barnes) Sprague. He was raised in

Borger, Texas Borger ( ) is the largest city in Hutchinson County, Texas, United States. The population was 12,551 at the 2020 census. Borger is named for businessman Asa Philip "Ace" Borger, who also established the Hutchinson County seat of Stinnett ...

. He attended

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciple ...

, graduating in 1979, then studied English in a Master's program at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

.Mark Allan Powell, ''Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music''. Hendrickson Publishers, 2002, pp. 856-857. Starting in 1981 he played in

Amy Grant Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...

's backup band, and also embarked on a songwriting career. His compositions would be recorded by

Brown Bannister Elliott Brown Bannister III (born August 15, 1951) is an contemporary Christian music (CCM) producer and songwriter. Bannister released one album of his own, ''Talk to One Another'', in 1981 on NewPax Records. It was reissued on the Reunion Records ...

, Gary Chapman,

Sandi Patty Sandra Faye "Sandi" Patty (born July 12, 1956) is an American Christian music singer, known for her wide soprano vocal range and expressive flexibility. Biography Early life Patty was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, into a family of musici ...

, Bebe and

Cece Winans Priscilla Marie Winans Love, known professionally as CeCe Winans, (born October 8, 1964) is an American gospel singer. She rose to prominence as a member of the duo BeBe & CeCe Winans; before launching an acclaimed solo career. Winans has been ...

Kathy Troccoli Kathy is a feminine given name. It is a pet form of Katherine, Kathleen and their related forms. Kathy may refer to: In sports *Kathy Bald, Canadian freestyle swimmer *Kathy May, American tennis player *Kathy Radzuweit, German volleyball player ...

, and

Debby Boone Deborah Anne Boone (born September 22, 1956) is an American singer, author, and actress. She is best known for her 1977 hit, " You Light Up My Life", which spent ten weeks at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and led to her winning the G ...

. He began recording under his own name in 1984, releasing an album, "_____", produced by

Michael W. Smith Michael Whitaker Smith (born October 7, 1957) is an American musician who has charted in both contemporary Christian and mainstream charts. His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when " Place in This World" hit No. 6 on the '' ...

. A second album, ''Serious Fun'', followed in 1986, featuring production by

Wayne Kirkpatrick Wayne Kirkpatrick (born c. 1961) is an American songwriter and musician born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana who now lives in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated from Baton Rouge Magnet High School in 1979. His younger brother is American screenwriter ...

and a song co-written by Chris Rodriguez. Sprague ceased recording and performing in 1989 after his fiance was killed in a car crash while driving to one of his concerts, not returning until 1992. During this time he continued working as a producer, and produced the album ''Friends Forever Part 2'', which won a

Dove Award A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Award ...

for Best Musical Album in 1990. Switching to

Benson Records Benson Records was founded by Bob Benson and John T. Benson, who formed the John T. Benson Music Publishing Company in 1902. The record label started out as Heart Warming Records, creating house labels such as Impact Records, Greentree Records, ...

, Sprague released ''Torn Between Two Worlds'' in 1992 and ''The Wind and the Wave'' in 1993. In 1994, he married, and continued songwriting through the decade of the 1990s. In 2015, Sprague released a new album, ''Songs In The Key Of Awe'', after a successful fundraising campaign on Kickstarter.

Discography

*''What a Way to Go'' (

Reunion Records Reunion Records is a contemporary Christian record label based in Brentwood, Tennessee, that operates under the Provident Label Group. The label was founded in 1982, by Dan Harrell and Mike Blanton. History The label was formed by Amy Grant' ...

, 1984) *''Serious Fun'' (Reunion, 1986) *''La Vie'' (Reunion, 1988) *''I Wish'' (Reunion, 1989) *''Torn Between Two Worlds'' (

, 1992) *''The Wind and the Wave'' (Benson, 1993) *''Soundtrack of My Soul'' (Mission Music, 2004) *''Songs In The Key Of Awe'' (Independent, 2015)

References

1952 births Living people Musicians from Tulsa, Oklahoma Record producers from Oklahoma Songwriters from Oklahoma Singers from Oklahoma American male songwriters American performers of Christian music American male singers {{Oklahoma-stub