"Way Maker" is a

contemporary worship Contemporary worship is a form of Christian worship that emerged within Western evangelical Protestantism in the 20th century. It was originally confined to the charismatic movement, but is now found in a wide range of churches, including many w ...

song written by Nigerian gospel singer Sinach and released as a single on 30 December 2015. The song has been covered by a number of Christian music artists worldwide including charting hit versions by Michael W. Smith,

Mandisa Mandisa Lynn Hundley (born October 2, 1976), known professionally as Mandisa, is an American gospel and contemporary Christian recording artist. Her career began as a contestant in the fifth season of ''American Idol'', in which she finished in ...

, Leeland and Passion.

Release and reception

In November 2016, Sinach released an 18-track album, ''Waymaker – Live'', titled after the single which recorded commercial success, and it was certified gold by Recording Industry of South Africa (RISA). Sinach was rated by Pulse Nigeria as the female artist of the decade, gospel female artist of the decade, and No. 7 artist of the decade in Nigeria. Sinach became the first African artist to top the ''

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'' Christian Songwriters chart in May 2020. In June 2020, the song reached the top spot in the Christian Copyright Licensing International Top 100 songs, a ranking based on the frequency that it is used in church worship. In October 2020, "Way Maker" won the

Dove Award for Song of the Year The GMA Dove Awards 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, T ...

at the

51st GMA Dove Awards The 51st Annual GMA Dove Awards presentation ceremony was recorded on Tuesday, September 1, 2020 through October 5, 2020, at the TBN in Hendersonville, Tennessee. The awards are given by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) recognizing the accompl ...

in the United States. She was the first Nigerian gospel artist to win the award. In August 2021, the song won the BMI Song of the year; a first for an African Gospel song.

Commercial performance

In October 2019, on invitation from Joel Osteen, Sinach visited Lakewood Church in

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where she performed the song live.

Music video

Sinach released the "Way Maker" music video on YouTube on 30 December 2015. The video shows her singing outdoors. It was directed by Ose Iria and audio produced by Mayo. On 7 March 2019, the video reached 100 million views, making Sinach the first Nigerian gospel singer and third Nigerian singer overall to accomplish the feat. At the end of 2019, Rhythm 93.7 FM reported "Way Maker" as the second most viewed Nigerian music video on YouTube.

Accolades

Impact

In 2020, video recordings of the song went viral on social media of people who gathered in their cars around a hospital in Albany, Georgia, singing and praying for those working in Phoebe Putney Medical system. Also, dozens of cars were parked outside Poinciana Medical Center in Kissimmee, Florida, where people gathered and sang the song. "Way Maker" was also sung at the

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, and

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Covers and renditions

The song has been covered by a number of Christian music artists around the world including Michael W. Smith, Leeland, Christafari, and various artists in Bethel Music. It has been sung in churches around the world, and has been translated into 50 languages. In November 2019, Christafari featuring

Avion Blackman Avion Claudette Trudy Henrietta Blackman (born 30 January 1976) is a Trinidadian reggae recording artist, and the wife of Christafari front man Mark Mohr. She has produced three solo albums, as well as providing vocals and bass guitar for Christa ...

released a reggae rendition of "Way Maker". In an interview with ''Billboard'', Michael W. Smith said that he was inspired to do the cover after his daughter Anna talked about how it was her go-to song; he first performed it at his concert at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville in August 2018. He was later asked to do a shorter radio version but it didn't turn out well so he went with the duet with his backing vocalist Vanessa Campagna. On 1 February 2020, Michael W. Smith released "Waymaker" featuring Campagna and Madelyn Berry. In March, the song marked Smith's first time in 16 years that he has reached a ''Billboard'' top 10 chart with a non-holiday single. Smith's rendition peaked at No. 3 on

Hot Christian Songs Hot Christian Songs is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It ranks the popularity of Christian songs using the same methodology developed for the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the magazine's flagship songs c ...

, at No. 4 on Christian Airplay, and at No. 6 on

Christian AC Christian adult contemporary, also known as Christian AC or CAC, is a radio format. In the United States, Christian adult contemporary radio stations cater to a mostly adult audience and are similar to mainstream adult contemporary stations in that ...

. In response to the

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and seeing Italian residents singing on the balconies, Campagna asked Smith to record an Italian version, which they released on 27 March as "Aprirai Una Via". Smith's rendition would later reach No. 1 on the Christian Airplay chart in May, as well as No. 2 on the Christian AC chart in June. Leeland's rendition, "Way Maker (Live)", was originally released on 16 August 2019 as a music video and

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single from his upcoming album, ''Better Word''. In an interview with ''Thir.st'' blog, singer

Leeland Mooring Leeland Dayton Mooring (born June 16, 1988) is an American worship musician, singer and songwriter known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the band Leeland, as well as serving a brief tenure as an ensemble worship leader with Bethel Music. ...

said that his mother first came across Sinach's video on YouTube two years prior, and the year after they started singing the song at his home church and then other churches. Mooring said "It didn't matter what the demographics of the people were or what denomination the church was. Every time we sang "Waymaker", everyone would latch onto it too. It was something very special." Mooring said he almost had Sinach come and sing with them on the album, but she could not make it. The song entered the ''Billboard'' Hot Christian Songs 11 April 2020 chart at No. 9, marking the first time in the history of Hot Christian Songs that two versions of the same song have resided simultaneously in its top 10 (Smith's version at No. 3). Two other renditions of "Way Maker" also charted in that week:

at No. 38 and Passion (featuring Kristian Stanfill, Kari Jobe and

Cody Carnes Cody Jay Carnes is an American Christian singer, songwriter and worship pastor. Carnes launched his solo music career in 2017 after signing with Capitol Christian Music Group, with the release of his critically acclaimed debut studio album, '' ...

) at No. 39. On 27 February 2020, worship leader Darlene Zschech recorded a rendition of "Way Maker" with William McDowell and a choir for an upcoming album for Integrity Music. Their video was posted in June.

References

{{Reflist Gospel songs 2015 singles Sinach songs