Throwback Thursday: Stacie Orrico

And now it's time for.......THROWBACK THURSDAY, the part of the blog where Lisa comes out and tells you about a former CCM artist who is no longer on the CCM scene. This may seem to be a sad topic, but in reality it's simply a celebration of what their music accomplished. Let's get to the artist!

 Already extremely talented, Stacie wrote her first song at the tender age of 6.In 1998, Stacie was signed to ForeFront Records at the age of 12.  In her home state of Colorado, she went to a local Christian Festival, "Praise In The Rockies". Somehow, she inadvertently entered a high stake talent competition, and won. A representative from Forefront was there, and promptly signed her.

At 14, her debut album, "Genuine" was released. The album sold over 13,000 copies in the first week, and was the highest debut ever for a female Christian artist, at the time. The hit single from the album, "Don't Look At Me" quickly shot up the charts, and stayed at #1 for 10 consecutive weeks. "Genuine" sold over 500,000 copies, and was certified Gold. Stacie Orrico's career was quickly taking off.

Stacie's most well-known work to date, "Stacie Orrico" was released in 2003, debuting at #67 on the Billboard Top 200 charts. Her unique, distinctive voice really shone on this album. "Stuck" became a top mainstream hit, and was in the Top 5 charts of many countries. "(There's Gotta Be) More To Life" was another hit single from the album in the Christian music industry. During this time, Stacie garnered a large fan base in Japan. "Stacie Orrico" was certified Gold, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2004.

However, this is where things started changing. Stacie recorded a new album, "Beautiful Awakening" in 2006, which totally changed the direction of her music. It was still her signature pop style, but this was focused more on the romance aspect of things. The release of "Beautiful Awakening" in the U.S. kept getting delayed, and was only released in Japan and the U.K. She tried to release several singles to radio, but unfortunately, they didn't do well. In 2007, the album was once again postponed, and finally, cancelled. Stacie spoke up that she had left her label, and she was taking a break. Tour dates were cancelled, and she announced she would be spending time in Africa.

In 2008, she started showing up at a few Asian festivals and tours, such as QB Goes Live in Cambodia, Singfest in Singapore, and a small tour in Japan. Also in 2008, a single called, "Knock Em' Out" was leaked on Youtube. A comeback, perhaps? Maybe...I suppose only time will tell.