Amazing Grace
Judy Collins didn't write a note of it, produce a hook onto it, or add a single instrument — and her 1970 a cappella 'Amazing Grace' still became a transatlantic hit. The whole achievement is in what she chose not to do.
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Hymn
How Great Thou Art
George Beverly Shea didn't write a word of 'How Great Thou Art' -- he just sang it roughly a hundred times over one sixteen-week crusade until an obscure translated hymn became a standard.
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How Great Thou Art
Carrie Underwood and Vince Gill's 2011 televised duet went viral within days -- and Underwood liked the moment enough to record the hymn again, a decade later, on her own terms.
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How Great Thou Art
Elvis Presley's first competitive Grammy win, out of fourteen nominations across his career, came for a gospel record -- and 'How Great Thou Art' is the reason why.
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It Is Well with My Soul
Mahalia Jackson's 1968 recording treats Horatio Spafford's grief-forged hymn with the same restraint Spafford's own words ask for -- and lets the power stay in reserve until the very end.
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