Billboard Music Awards 2014: Chris Tomlin, Matthew West and Alan Jackson Win Big

By Leah Marianne Klett
Chris Tomlin
Chris Tomlin

The 2014 Billboard Music Awards aired on ABC last night, featuring performances from John Legend, Ricky Martin, and even a Michael Jackson Hologram.

Displaying their impact on the largely secular world of music were several Christian artists who received awards for top Christian song, top Christian artist and top Christian album.

The award for "Top Christian Artist" went to Chris Tomlin, who competed against Mandisa, Skillet, Toby Mac, and Matthew West.

He expressed gratitude for the award, tweeting, 'Thank you @billboard @OfficialBBMAs for the honor/award last night. God bless you."

A former worship leader, Chris Tomlin has sold nearly 30 million records throughout his career and has produced hits such as "Whom Shall I Fear" and "How Great is Our God."

Christian artist Matthew West won an award in the category of "Top Christian Song" for "Hello, My Name Is." His song beat out Building 429's, "We Won't Be Shaken,"
 Mandisa's, "Overcomer,"
 Sidewalk Prophets', "Help Me Find It,"
 and Chris Tomlin's, "Whom Shall I Fear (God Of Angel Armies)."

West tweeted that he would not be there but was very grateful for the honor. "Not able to attend ‪@OfficialBBMAs tonight but So honored to be nominated and will be watching from the beach! Thx ‪@billboard for the love!" he posted.

Upon receiving the award, West tweeted, "Thx @billboard @OfficialBBMAs for the Christian Song of the Year award! So awesome! #hellomynameis

Country singer Alan Jackson took home the award for "Top Christian Album" for his Precious Memories: Volume II. The album competed against records from Skillet, Third Day, and Chris Tomlin, as well as a compilation album, in the category.

"Precious Memories: Volume II" was released in March of last year as a follow-up to his 2006 album, "Precious Memories," and features covers of popular hymns like "Amazing Grace" and "Just As I Am."

The Billboard Music Award is an honor given by Billboard, a publication and music popularity chart covering the music business. Unlike other awards, such as the Grammy Award, which determine nominations as a result of the highest votes received, the Billboard Music Awards finalists are based on United States year-end chart performance according to Nielsen data for sales, number of downloads and total airplay. Awards were given for the top album/artist/single in different genres.

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