At first, MercyMe frontman Bart Millard was reluctant to listen to a song pitch from Walker Hayes. It’s not that Millard wasn’t a fan – he’d been one since hearing Haye’s 2017 song “Craig” – but MercyMe was nearing the completion of their twelfth studio album, “Wonder & Awe,” and it felt too late to throw another track into the mix. But after listening to the demo en route to be with his terminally ill father-in-law, Millard couldn’t deny its divine timing. “Oh Death” quickly became the album’s lead single.
“It’s a weird song,” Millard admits with a grin. “It makes you want to dance, and it talks about a topic that’s pretty heavy. It just works.”
In this vulnerable couch conversation, Millard and Hayes sit down with Carlos & Amy to dive deep into the story behind their No. 1 song, “Oh Death.” Hayes also shares about the unlikely friendship that led to his salvation and inspired his song, “Craig.”
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