Religious Song Hits

Over the years, some religious songs have crossed over and made the pop charts. Other religious songs started out as spiritual pop songs that became hits. There are more than you probably think. And there are many more religious song hits on the pop charts than mentioned here. If you can think of some religious song hits to add, let me know in the comments below.

This classic pop rock song isn't a religious song per se, but it does have Biblical references in it.

The Biblical based lyrics are A gathering of angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said." Later in the song, "I thought that they were angels, but much to my surprise, they climbed aboard their starship and headed for the skies."

These lyrics allude to Ezekiel 1:1-28 which speaks of a large wheel appearing to Ezekiel that gives Ezekiel commands from God.

This spiritual song made it into the pop charts in 1958. It was sung by Laurie London and made #1 on the song list of Most Played by Jockeys.

I was surprised to learn that this religious pop song didn't make the Top 100 song charts. I remember hearing it often on the radio in the 70s. It was released by the band Ocean. The song was the 22nd top selling song of 1971. Others who covered the song include Elvis Presley, Anne Murray, and Joan Baez.

This is another song that isn't a crossover, but definitely has a spiritual tone. Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin is Led Zeppelin's most recognized song and one of the most popular songs of all time. The song deals with a wealthy, greedy woman. She finally realizes that her life is empty and money will not get her into heaven.

It was never released as a single in the United States, but it is the most requested song on FM radio of all time in the United States, as well as the most played song. The song is 8 minutes long. Rolling Stone magazine lists "Stairway to Heaven" as #31 on the list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

One of Us is a song sung by Joan Osborne and written by Eric Bazilian. Most people call the name of the song "What If God Was One of Us". The single was released in 1995 and hit #4 on the Billboard song charts. Joan was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance with the song. It was used as the theme song for the television show, "Joan of Arcadia". Dr. Evil sings the song in "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me".