Blog: DC Talk, The Band Who Keep On Giving
In the past few weeks, all three original members of the ground-breaking band DC Talk have been back in the news. As Kevin Max becomes the second of the trio to be lined up to front an already successful band, LTTM looks back at the DC Talk story and what happened to the singers once the group came to a close.
Back in 1987, three young musicians by the names of Toby 'Mac' McKeehan, Michael Tait, and Kevin Max Smith formed a band called DC Talk. Over the next decade they would go on to release five studio albums, win Best Rock Gospel Album at the Grammy Awards four times, and become widely known as the most popular Christian band of all time. Their anthemic track 'Jesus Freak' is one of the most enduring songs in Christian music.
In 2000 the trio began a hiatus which, aside from a few occasional and minor reunions, would remain in place to this day. But that was by no means the end of the story for these three men.
TobyMac, one of the first ever Christian rappers, very quickly carved out a successful solo career for himself, beginning with his debut 2001 album, 'Momentum'. A run of award winning albums followed, including 'Tonight' in 2010, and this year Toby releases his fifth full-length studio album, 'Eye On It'.
Likewise, Michael Tait pursued a solo career under the band, Tait. But it was in 2009 that he really came back to the forefront with the surprise announcement that he was to become the new lead singer of mega-band Newsboys following Peter Furler's decision to step down from the band. It quickly lead to a new lease of life for both Tait and Newsboys, with hugely successful albums 'Born Again' and 'God's Not Dead' once again establishing Newsboys as one of the best Christian band's of the moment.
Kevin Max also headed into a solo career that saw the singer release numerous albums as well as carving out a name for himself as both a poet and an author. Despite various album and EP releases, plus collaborations and guest appearances, Max didn't quite match the high-level status of his two former band mates. That is, perhaps, until the recent revelation that Kevin Max was to become the new lead singer of the band Audio Adrenaline.
DC Talk really are the band who refused to quit, the band who kept on giving. When a natural conclusion to their original group took them their separate ways, who would have predicted these three men, more than a decade later, would all be either fronting other successful bands or headlining as a solo singer in their own right.
Rumours of future DC Talk reunions have persisted for years, and the return to high profile status for Kevin Max will do little to dampen that as time goes on. All three have addressed those rumours in the past, and politely failed to rule them out in that 'never say never' attitude. So will we one day so the historical reuniting of the mighty DC Talk? Perhaps. But in the mean time, who can deny the trio the chance to show the world their undeniable talents in their current roles.
