GRAMMY-winning Christian music act Casting Crowns remains the nation’s top-selling band for a second week with new album The Altar and The Door at No. 4 on Billboard’s Top 200 albums chart. With another 40,000 units sold, Casting Crowns has scanned 170,000 in the first two weeks of release, and stays the highest-selling band on the charts behind High School Musical 2 soundtrack, Fergie’s Dutchess and Hannah Montana 2 soundtrack.
 
The act’s historical third project The Altar and The Door released as the highest debuting album and top artist release overalllast week (Sept. 2) at No. 2 on The Billboard 200 chart with 129,000 scans, a new record for a Christian artist without crossover promotion in the mainstream market.
 
Also this week, the album’s first radio single “East to West” hits No. 1 at Christian AC radiomaintaining the band’s perfect run with seven consecutive No.1 singles in four years
The Altar and The Door has surpassed the group’s previous chart-high with its GRAMMY-winning, Platinum album Lifesong released at No. 9 in 2005 with 71,000 first-week scans.
 
Casting Crowns’ lead singer and songwriter is full-time Youth Pastor Mark Hall, who is serving his 16th year as student pastor at Eagle’s Landing First Baptist Church in Atlanta. All seven band members remain active in student ministry in the Atlanta-area and tour part-time around their local-church duties.
 
The band will visit 36 cities during its The Altar and The Door Fall Tour. For tour dates and more information, please visit www.castingcrowns.com.

During its four-year career, Casting Crowns has been honored with a GRAMMY Award, two American Music Award nods and multiple Gospel Music Dove Awards serving as the industry’s “Group of the Year” for the last three years. Casting Crowns has been the most played artist on all Christian radio formats combined, with seven consecutive No.1 AC radio hits, and the group has sold nearly 3 million albums to date. Earlier this year, Casting Crowns set an RIAA record as the fastest Christian music artist in its career to have its first two albums certified Platinum, and only the second in RIAA history ever to achieve it (the other being Jars of Clay in 2000).
 
Beach Street Records, an imprint of Reunion Records, a unit of Provident Label Group, was launched by Mark Miller, founder and frontman of the multi-platinum country music act, Sawyer Brown.  SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT’s Provident Music Group is one of the world’s leading Christian music companies. Provident Music Group operates under the umbrella of Sony BMG Nashville.