Gracie Binion’s voice carries something different—something raw, something real. Whether you first heard her soaring vocals on Goodbye Yesterday with Elevation Worship or stumbled upon her solo work, there’s a distinct weight to her music.
It’s not just talent; it’s conviction. She isn’t here to simply sing. She’s here to explore what it means to create music that honors God without losing its soul. And she’s doing it her own way.
Music was a part of Binion’s life from the start. Her parents traveled in ministry leading worship, and her father was a songwriter. It wasn’t just background noise; it was the foundation of her home.
“I was a nepo baby,” she says with a laugh. “I annoyed my family singing all the time. I was constantly writing songs, filling journals with little lyrics.”
At 15, she found herself in rooms with some of the biggest names in worship music. By 16, she had signed a development deal with Integrity Music under the name MDSN, a stylized version of her name Madison. She quickly learned the reality of the industry. Worship music often follows a formula, and creative control wasn’t always up for discussion.
“I would tell producers exactly what I wanted, and it would still come out sounding like pop because they assumed they knew what was best.”
The deeper she got, the more questions she had. Was worship meant to be a business? Could something created as an offering also be a product?
“For some reason in my heart, it felt wrong to make a profit off something that was supposed to be a sacrifice,” she says. “I don’t think it’s wrong for everyone but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was getting it twisted.”
By 21, her contract had ended and she was at a crossroads. She still loved music but the industry didn’t feel like home. So she stepped back. She moved to Chattanooga with her husband, plugged into a small close-knit church, and let herself breathe.
“I realized worship isn’t just what I do on stage. It’s everything I create, the way I live. That shift changed everything for me.”
That realization fueled her 2024 debut album, though bringing it to life wasn’t easy. From writing to production, she fought to maintain her vision.
“I wanted something more alternative, more raw, and I kept getting pushback,” she says. “At one point, I got told that a lyric I pulled from an old poem sounded ‘too sexual.’ It was literally a line from my grandma’s Bible.”
Despite the hurdles, she refused to compromise. The result was an album that sounds unmistakably like Binion: vulnerable, experimental and spiritually rich.
“I didn’t want to put out something I wasn’t completely proud of again,” she says. “This time, I fought for every lyric, every note.”
Though undeniably worshipful, her music doesn’t fit neatly into the typical Sunday morning setlist. She resists labels, but if she has to choose she calls herself a worshiper. “Everything I create is worship. It doesn’t have to sound like what people expect.”
She’s not slowing down. Her next projects include a live worship EP, another alternative Christian album and, perhaps most surprisingly, a mainstream record. “I write all kinds of music. Some of it’s explicitly worship, some of it’s not but it’s all an expression of my faith.”
Binion knows the industry wasn’t built for artists like her—women who are direct about what they want, who won’t be shaped into something easier to market.
“Being a woman in this industry is hard,” she admits. “You get told you don’t actually know what you want, that your sound should be something else. I had to unlearn that and realize, no, I do know exactly what I want.”
Her confidence has come at a cost. She’s turned down tours that would have boosted her career, choosing instead to prioritize family and faith.
“I don’t want to wake up ten years from now and regret missing my husband’s birthday or my mom’s birthday for a tour. The industry tells you it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity but life is full of those. I’d rather be present for the things that matter most.”
She isn’t naive about the path she’s chosen. The tension between faith and career will always be there. The industry isn’t changing overnight. But she’s committed to doing things on her terms.
“I don’t have it all figured out,” she says. “But I know I want to be proud of the decisions I make, proud of the songs I put out. And if that means taking the harder road, so be it.”
Gracie Binion may be just getting started, but she’s already proving that the only path worth following is the one you carve yourself.
