Bart Millard was born on December 1, 1972 in Greenville, Texas. During his high school years, Millard wanted to become a football player, a dream that ended when he injured both ankles at a high school football game.
As a result of his injury, Millard took choir as an elective. Millard’s father, Arthur Wesley Millard Jr. died in 1991, during Bart’s first year of college. His youth pastor invited him to work with the church’s youth group worship band. Millard accepted and worked with the video and audio systems for that group.
James (Jim) Bryson played piano for that band and later he started to play with Bart Millard and the worship band on a trip to Switzerland. That trip eventually inspired Millard to pursue a full-time musical career. Millard and two of his friends (James Bryson and Michael John Scheuchzer) moved to Oklahoma City to form MercyMe.
Since then, the band has recorded six independent, nine studio, two exclusive, two Christmas, and one compilation album.