Danny Gokey: Cover Story (December 2025)
The Awe of Christmas
At the heart of his song is one line that tells his whole story: “Every December I stop to remember the humble entrance of our King….” isn’t just a poetic notion. It was a snow-covered testimony. “There’s been many Christmases where I sat in awe” he told me, “(I just want to say) thank You so much for the gift You gave.”
“I remember I must have been like 6 or 7 years old… on Christmas Eve we’d visit my mom’s side of the family, then my dad’s side, then go home. We didn’t have much, but you felt rich when you got to go to three places to open presents.” In the car between grandparents’ houses, worship music was playing. “I remember that song: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, there’s just something about that name. And as I sat there, this was the thought that came to my mind: Lord, you can have my presents.”
That’s not something adults typically say, let alone children. “I presented them to Him because in that moment I realized You’re worthy of it all.” I presented the notion that he’d built an altar in the backseat and he didn’t disagree. “That awe of what He did positioned me to receive all that He had each Christmas.” That’s the story behind the story.
That awe is the reason the song exists.
And it’s the reason Christmas has become such a cornerstone of Danny Gokey’s life and music. We met up with Danny at a very interesting time in his career. It’s been 16 years since he made his first splash on the American Idol stage, yet it seems like he just recently found himself as a Christian music mainstay with a voice all his own. He talked about the early days — when he mimicked other artists, when he leaned into vocal choices because fans liked them.
“When I sang on American Idol, people would tell me how much they loved my growl. So, I’d growl a little extra. But that wasn’t my authentic voice.” My producer, Bernie Herms, helped him recognize that. “He said, ‘What are you selling? I want to hear what your voice is.’ I’d never been asked that.” Today, Danny has found the voice he was always meant to use.
“I never saw myself as a songwriter. But now I see I can write songs… that I can start concepts, not just use other people’s concepts. It’s evolution that gets me excited.”
“People chase trends. I want to chase God, who can create trends through me.”
That is happening right now with his new release, The Moment The Whole World Changed”. Danny didn’t write his Christmas anthem intending it for choirs, but that’s exactly where it’s headed. As we spent time together, he was just days away from performing at one of the bucket list music venues for most artists. “I’m playing Carnegie Hall this Christmas,” he told me. “We have a 200-piece choir. And the choir director told my manager, ‘Be prepared, people are going to want to sing this. You should have a version ready for churches.’” He paused, then added: “When people want to sing it, it means it pointed them toward the right place… not toward me.” That’s the posture that separates him from so many artists. He wants his songs to outgrow him. He wants them to become traditions. With the release of “The Moment the Whole World Changed”, it feels inevitable.
When I told him I believed this song would be sung for decades, he nodded slowly. “I hope so. I really believe the Lord had me write it.” That belief fuels everything he does, including the work it takes to perform a song this massive.
“It’s such a big song,” he admitted. “I’ve been practicing just trying to get breath support. It makes all my other songs easy.” And yet he’s determined to try an acoustic version for our CCM stripped-down performance “I’m going to try it,” he said, laughing. “We’re gonna try it.” For the record: he nailed it!
“People chase trends. I want to chase God, who can create trends through me.”
Behind the Christmas songs and the big productions is a man shaped by family, his own childhood, and the one he is building now with his wife and kids. What does Christmas look like for the Gokey family today? “Our Christmas tradition right now is going to see my family [in Milwaukee], then her family here in Nashville.”
He brightened at the thought of snow. “I love snow. I miss it. It just makes things look beautiful… it makes Christmas feel so much more Christmasy.” And then he laughed and acknowledged what every Nashville transplant already knows: “That is not a Nashville thing.” Danny’s home life is full of surprises — including the fact that he now has a small homestead. “We have chickens that produce eggs. We have a garden that produces vegetables. And we added beehives, we produced 13 gallons of honey this year.” Yes, 13 gallons and yes, he incubates the baby chicks himself in his house. “I love the eggs and the honey… but the chickens get eaten. They just get attacked. Nearly 30 chickens killed so far.”
His own dog is occasionally a culprit. “The one supposed to be protecting them sometimes is the one eating them.” I told him I could never handle that heartbreak. He agreed that it’s rough. But he keeps rebuilding. Every year, he incubates 20 more.
This is the beautiful contradiction of Danny Gokey: One night he’s at Carnegie Hall, the next he is trying to protect his baby chickens from their dog.
Even after a career packed with hits, sold-out tours, Dove Awards, and one of the most recognizable voices in Christian music, Danny is still excited for the future. “What’s next?” I asked. And his answer was simple: “I’m in prayer again about the next song. I want to be Spirit-led in my writing. I want to know my identity, know my voice.”
“I remember I must have been like 6 or 7 years old… on Christmas Eve we’d visit my mom’s side of the family, then my dad’s side, then go home. We didn’t have much, but you felt rich when you got to go to three places to open presents.”
As we wrapped up our time together, I told Danny something I’d discovered while preparing for this conversation. People talk about him in two very different ways. There’s public Danny, the polished professional, the intentional presenter, the man whose stage presence is as refined as his vocals. And then there’s private Danny — the playful one, the thoughtful one, the deeply spiritual one, the dad, the husband, the man who still marvels at the miracle of Christmas like a child sitting in the backseat of his parents’ car. I told him I wanted people to see that version of him.
He smiled shyly and said: “Thank you… You asked all the right questions.” But the truth is, Danny made it easy. You don’t have to dig deep to find the authentic person, and like a lot of us who can be quite nostalgic about this time of year, you may just have to ask about Christmas.
Because that’s when everything in him seemed to light up. It’s a time for Gokey to celebrate his faith, his calling, his childhood memories, his artistic drive, his awe of God, his purpose as a father, his heart for the Church, and his deep desire to make music that points people toward Jesus. There were certain words and phrases that echoed throughout our time together: Reverence. Worship. Transformation.
It can be a noisy and a distracting world this type of year, but our focus should remain on the Awe & Wonder of our Savior.
Most artists make a Christmas album or drop a seasonal single because it’s expected, or because it’s commercially sound, or because it’s simply fun. But for Danny, Christmas is ministry. It’s discipleship. It’s evangelism wrapped in orchestration and wrapped again in awe.
When he talks about the season, there’s no performative “holiday spirit.” It’s theological and emotional. “Christmas won’t be as fulfilling as God intended it to be if we rush through it,” he told me. “Just like family is not fulfilling without Christ at the center.” The way he says it isn’t heavy-handed, it’s gentle and lived-in. It’s a truth he’s learned by stepping into both joy and loss. The death of his first wife. His journey through poverty during his career transition. The reinvention he never expected. The second chance at love with his wife, Leyicet. The children who transformed his daily rhythms. The nonprofit born out of loss. The music born out of prayer. The Christmas story, the birth of our Savior, is where all of those threads converge.
“I’m in prayer again about the next song. I want to be Spirit-led in my writing. I want to know my identity, know my voice.”
Because Christmas is where heaven touched earth in the simplest, most vulnerable way possible. That’s why the childlike wonder of that backseat altar moment still defines him. And that’s why, even after everything he has accomplished, Danny sees Christmas as a sacred assignment. A lot of Christmas music exists to accompany the season. Danny’s Christmas music exists to interpret it and to make meaning of it, to remind people why the season matters in the first place.
“Every December I stop to remember…” he writes — not every December I celebrate, or decorate, or enjoy. Remember. And Danny has chosen to build an entire creative ecosystem around that posture.
There’s a reason Danny’s Christmas tours have become annual staples for Christian music lovers. They are celebrations that balance joy and reverence, spectacle and sincerity, Santa and shepherds.
As we talked, he grinned and said something that felt perfectly Gokey: “We celebrate the meaning behind Christmas, but we also celebrate a lot of fun things too. There’s Santa’s reindeer, Christmas trees.”
The spiritual depth is there, but he never forgets the joy. He knows Christmas evokes childhood, tradition, warmth, humor, and nostalgia as much as it evokes theology. And his tour, happening right now with Natalie Grant, honors both. That’s why families return year after year, because his show feels like the Gospel and the Christmas pageant you grew up with and the soundtrack of the season and a Broadway production, all at once.
And now, stepping onto the stage at Carnegie Hall is the culmination of everything he has built. “It’s a one-of-a-kind show,” he said. “I want to invite you, invite your friends and family.” As we finished our time together, I realized Christmas isn’t Danny Gokey’s side project.
It’s not his seasonal detour. It’s not content for December. It’s not just a major part of his legacy. It is the lens through which he reveals his heart, his craft, his convictions, his childhood memories, his worship, his theology, his story, and his future. “The moment the whole world changed,” he sings. And Danny believes it.
The child in the manger changed eternity for all of us. And that awe is what Danny continues to chase. And this year, with a song that feels timeless he invites all of us back into the awe.
Merry Christmas from CCM Magazine — and from Danny Gokey, whose voice and heart continue to lead us toward the manger with fresh gratitude every year.
See Danny Gokey & Natalie Grant on the Celebrate Christmas Tour:
12/4 – Tampa, FL
12/5 – Lakeland, FL
12/6 – Brooksville, FL
12/11 – Bowling Green, KY
12/12 – Greeneville, TN
12/13 – Nashville, TN
12/14 – Springfield, MO (Nixa, MO)
12/18 – Augusta, GA (Aiken, SC)
12/19 – Richmond, VA
12/20 – Baltimore, MD
12/21 – Washington, D.C.
