Famed actor Dennis Quaid has appeared in dozens of popular films, but what many may not know is that he’s also a Gospel singer. That’s right, in 2023, Dennis Quaid released his very first album, titled Fallen: A Gospel Album for Sinners, on which is “Amazing Grace,” which he recently performed live for Gaither Music TV.
The timeless hymn “Amazing Grace” needs no introduction, as it is quite possibly the most widely recognizable song in the world. Quaid takes the song for a bluegrass spin, starting off with mandolin and banjo keeping the rhythm of a train. The song keeps this energy throughout the tune, creating a lively and danceable atmosphere.
The first thing that struck us was the clarity of 69-year-old Quaid’s vocals. While some singers start to lose their vocal strength as they approach their seventies, Quaid sounds like a much younger man. His deep baritone gives his music a similar feel to that of Josh Turner, or even Johnny Cash. Along with lead vocals, Quaid plays rhythm guitar, kept company the whole time by his pet bulldog that sleeps lazily at his feet, giving the video a charming quality.
Quaid explained in a 2023 interview with People that his pursuit of Gospel music has been the result of his faith journey. Raised Baptist, Quaid fell away from his faith during his younger years, when he also struggled with drug addiction. At one point as a young man he was in a promising band that was offered a record deal, but his addiction would cause the band to fall apart.
Quaid said it all started when he left rehab in the 1990s and wrote a song called “On My Way to Heaven” for his mother. In 2018, the tune appeared in the movie I Can Only Imagine, the biopic on MercyMe’s Bart Millard for which Quaid played his father Arthur. In the years since, Quaid wrote and arranged a full album’s worth of music.
The singer explained that while looking for something to fill the hole of his former addiction, Quaid began exploring his faith, studying several religious texts before rereading the Bible for the first time in years:
“I was really struck by the red words of Jesus. For me, I started developing a personal relationship and the songs started coming out. They’re self reflective, self examining, and also just where you are spiritually in life. They’re not 'churchy,' that’s the thing I think I’m trying to get to.” Quaid added, “All of us have a relationship with God, whether you're Christian or not… It may not be good and you may not even believe, but you’re still in a relationship with that side of yourself.”
Hear the full interview in the video below.
