Dennis Quaid’s gospel album, explained

Of course, Dennis Quaid is best known as a versatile actor and as Randy Quaid’s younger brother. The 70-year-old star has worked as a leading man since the 1980s and is considered one of the best actors to have never won an Academy Award.

As per IMDb, his most famous movie credits include Jaws 3-D (1983), Great Balls of Fire! (1989), Any Given Sunday (1999), Traffic (2000), Far from Heaven (2002), The Day After Tomorrow (2004), and Flight of the Phoenix (2004). Most recently, he starred in the 2024 body horror film The Substance.

Quaid has played prominent roles on television in shows like Vegas, The Art of More, Fortitude, Goliath, Merry Happy Whatever, and Lawmen: Bass Reeves. In the upcoming true crime series Happy Face, he’s set to star as Keith Hunter Jesperson, the Happy Face killer.

In 1983, he also played the role of Austin in Sam Shepard’s off-broadway theatre show True West.

It may surprise you, therefore, to learn he’s also an accomplished musician. In 2023, Quaid released a country gospel album called Fallen: A Gospel Record For Sinners. It’s received critical acclaim, but what’s the deal with it?

Dennis Quaid’s Fallen: A Gospel Record For Sinners explained

Quaid has been a Christian since his youth growing up in Texas, so he was more than happy to say “yes” when executives from gospel music firm Gaither Music approached him to make a gospel record. He told Variety, “I had previously made one other record with my rock ’n’ roll band, the Sharks (“Out of the Box”), and it came out and laid there. This one was really focused.”

He also told the publication, “With two different producers, it reflects me in the sound. Half Baptist churcher, half country rock.” The two producers in question are leading gospel music figure Ben Isaacs and country rock mogul David “Fergie” Ferguson.

The album consists of 12 records — renditions of seven classics and five original songs — and the tracklist is as follows:

1. Fallen (3:43)
2. Please Don’t Give Up on Me (3:29)
3. Why Me Lord (3:28)
4. God Gets Lonely Too (4:48)
5. Just as I Am (2:41)
6. Amazing Grace (2:59)
7. Life’s Railway to Heaven (4:52)
8. On My Way to Heaven (3:46)
9. What a Friend We Have in Jesus (3:39)
10. The Lord’s Prayer (2:28)
11. Welcome Home (4:33)
12. I’ll Fly Away (4:37)

Fallen: A Gospel Record for Sinners is available on Amazon and streaming on Spotify and Apple Music. It’s worth giving it a chance if you’re a fan of gospel or country or looking to listen to something a little different.