Third Day

About Third Day

Third Day started in Marietta, Georgia in 1991 when Mac Powell and guitarist Mark Lee were still teenagers playing music at a Baptist church. They added bassist Tai Anderson and drummer David Carr, eventually landing on the name Third Day after a youth retreat. The reference is biblical — the day Jesus rose from the dead — which gives you a pretty clear sense of where they were coming from.

They built their following the old-fashioned way, playing churches and coffeehouses around Atlanta before self-releasing their debut in 1994. Reunion Records picked them up, and their proper 1996 album brought them into the wider Christian rock conversation. But it was 1997's "Conspiracy No. 5" that really broke things open. The album went gold, and tracks like "Consuming Fire" showed they could balance worship music with actual Southern rock grit. They weren't trying to sound like a church band — more like a group that happened to be believers and knew their way around a Marshall stack.

"Time" in 1999 solidified their status as one of Christian rock's biggest acts. It won them a Grammy and featured "Sky Falls Down," which got enough crossover attention that people outside the contemporary Christian music bubble started paying attention. They had this thing where they could write earnest worship songs without making them feel sanitized or overly produced. Powell's voice had this raspy, lived-in quality that kept things grounded.

The early 2000s were their commercial peak. "Come Together" in 2001 and "Wire" in 2004 both hit number one on Christian charts and sold well enough to justify arena tours. "Wire" in particular found them experimenting more with production while keeping that rock foundation intact. They picked up multiple Grammys and Dove Awards during this stretch, basically becoming the default arena rock band for the Christian market.

They kept releasing albums fairly consistently through the 2010s, though the music industry's collapse hit Christian rock particularly hard. "Move" in 2010, "Miracle" in 2012, "Lead Us Back: Songs of Worship" in 2015 — the output was steady but the cultural moment had shifted. Streaming changed everything, and the genre itself felt less relevant as younger listeners moved toward worship-focused acts or just listened to secular music without the baggage.

David Carr died unexpectedly in 2022, which essentially ended the band as a working unit. They'd been at it for over thirty years at that point, which is a legitimate run by any measure. Mac Powell has continued as a solo artist, leaning more into Americana and roots music. Third Day's legacy is solid if somewhat contained — they were massive within their world, respected outside of it, and managed to make rock music that served a specific purpose without completely abandoning the form.

Third Day shows were marathon events with true believers in the crowd who knew every word. The band delivered with professional precision and obvious stamina, pulling from a deep catalog. Sing-alongs were genuine, not forced. Energy rarely dipped.

Known for Wire, Thrive, Show Me Your Glory, God of Wonders, Consuming Fire

See Third Day Live