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Zach Williams and Dolly Parton Duet ‘There Was Jesus’ Nominated for Grammy

Screenshot from Zach Williams’ Instagram

Zach Williams and Dolly Parton Duet ‘There Was Jesus’ Nominated for Grammy

By Movieguide® Staff

As music artists await the 63rd annual Grammy Awards results, Christian artist Zach Williams said he is “shocked” at his fifth career nomination.

“I didn’t realize it had been five nominations already, I was pretty shocked about it,” Williams told CBN of his nomination for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song.

Williams performed his nominated song “There Was Jesus” with music icon Dolly Parton.

“This is very much my story if I think back to the last 20 years that it took me to get to where I’m at in my life,” Williams said. “Even if I go back further than that to my childhood, I think about all these moments that I missed in my life…now I can look back and see that God was in the middle of every one of them and working out the details. It’s just a special song.”

Williams recalled that Parton recognized immediately that the song was “special.”

“I wrote the song with a couple other people and when we got the demo back, I heard this girls voice on it that just reminded me of Dolly Parton’s and I said ‘wouldn’t it be really cool if we could get Dolly Parton to really sing on this.’ Everybody kind of laughed but we tracked down her management and she agreed to listen to the song. The day that I met her, she told me that she didn’t even make it to the chorus and she knew it was special,” Williams said.

“I found out that this is Dolly’s 50th GRAMMY nomination,” Williams added. “I thought how cool to be in this with her… it’s just a special song.”

The Christian artist confessed that it is easy to focus on his shortcomings while in the spotlight. However, William’s ultimate goal is to follow Jesus.

“For myself as a Christian artist I can kind of beat myself up, trying to feel like I have to be on a pedestal 24/7 for a lot of people that are on the outside looking in,” Williams said of his new track ‘Less Like Me.’ “They probably think we have our lives together and everything is perfect.

“I just wanted a song that felt real to people, to let them know that I struggle probably more than most and I have my days when I get it right, but I probably have more days that I get it wrong. My goal every day is to be more like Jesus and I just wanted something that just kind of made us all stop and think,” Williams said.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.