Grammy-nominated country artist Ty Herndon and Michael Passons sat down and chatted with #Powerjournalist Markos Papadatos about their “Testify to Love” single.
Passons is a founding member of the multi-platinum Christian pop group Avalon, and they released a powerful new re-imagining of the 1997 tune “Testify to Love.”
On being in New York, Herndon exclaimed, “It feels great to be here at Gramercy Park.”
“Testify to Love” is an anthemic collaboration among Ty Herndon and Michael Passons featuring Melissa Greene, which cataptulted to the top of the Billboard Hot Christian Music Singles charts.
Regarding the success of his duet single, Herndon remarked, “We were so thrilled to have a No. 1 single in the Contemporary Christian Music market. We are excited to spread the message of love, because it is so needed out there today.”
“I hope this song inspires people to live their authentic selves and to not be afraid of who they are because love is love,” he added.
On the origin of the song, Passons stated, “I did this song 29 years ago, but I’ve always wanted to re-do it. Then, Ty came last fall and asked me to do it as a duet. I thought it was a great idea, so we started last fall and we recorded our vocals in February. It came out this past May, and then, it just took on a life of its own. We had no idea that all of this was going to happen.”
“We’ve been friends for 30 years, so it made a lot of sense,” Passons added.
‘What Mattered Most’ memoir
Herndon spoke about his intimate memoir “What Mattered Most,” which chronicles his rise to fame, struggled with addition and mental health, as well as his groundbreaking journey as the first mainstream male country singer to come out as gay.
“I would like to thank all my fans out there for keeping it No. 1 on Amazon. Goodness gracious, when I say it’s Magnolias meets the Kardashians, and then you know it’s a good book,” he noted.
“Writing this book was life-changing for me, and I hope it will help as many people as possible,” he added.
Michael Passons on his songwriting and music inspirations
On his music and songwriting inspirations, Passons shared, “For me, it has always been personal experiences, so if I can write a song, that is very personal to me, but write it broad enough to where someone else can fit their life into the lyrics, then that would mean the world.”
“I like writing in a way that people can take a song and take it into their lives,” Passions said. “It’s not just about me; I love that and that’s a good thing about art.”
“You can look at a painting and it can mean something to you and something different to the other person. So I love that about music as well,” Passions added.
Herndon on the pictures of him in Greece that wound up in cologne ads
Herndon opened up about the pictures of him on a beach in Greece (taken by Thompson Square) that wound up on billboards for a cologne advertisement without his permission. “I those those turned into a cologne called ‘Cowboy.’ You can still get them on Amazon but I didn’t get any compensation for those photos, but the cologne smells good,” he said with a sweet laugh.
Stage of his life
On the title of the current chapter of his life, Herndon revealed, “Happiness.”
Superpower of choice
Herndon’s superpower of choice is ‘being married.” “Marriage has been wonderful,” he admitted.
Success
Herndon defined the word success simply as contentment and happiness in life.
Message for his fans
For his dedicated fans and supporters, Herndon expressed, “Thank you so much to the fans! I love you guys. You are just brilliant, keep listening to the new music, keep singing, and keep testifying to love.”
Closing thoughts on the new book
Herndon remarked about the book, “I hope the book inspires people to make changes and to not be afraid. Be happy, be fearless, be your own church!”
Herndon’s book “What Mattered Most” is available on digital service providers by clicking here.
“Testify to Love” by Ty Herndon and Michael Passons (featuring Melissa Greene) is available on digital service providers by clicking here.
To learn more about Grammy-nominated artist Ty Herndon, follow him on Instagram.
