On November 30, singer and songwriter Mark Lowry celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of his hit single, “Mary Did You Know?”
In a recent interview, Lowry explained the origins of the beloved Christmas song. Originally he penned “Mary, Did You Know” in 1991 as a monologue for his church’s Living Christmas Tree program. The substance of the monologue turned song stemmed from the conversations he had with his mom growing up where they expressed their curiosity regarding the humanity of Jesus.
“We talked about this all my life, all these ideas of the humanity of Jesus. Everybody knows about the deity of Jesus, at least in our world they did. But we didn’t talk about that he got sick, I guess,” recalled the minister and comedian. “And maybe human…I don’t know, he was human. He became one-hundred percent human, you know. Mary had to teach God how to walk. Mary had to teach the word of God how to talk. I mean me and my mom, we would just sit around and think of stuff that blew each other’s mind.”
Lowry collaborated with another singer and songwriter, Buddy Green, who helped the song become an instant hit. Buddy is also a successful guitar and harmonica player.
Mark was born on June 24, 1958 in Texas and attended Liberty University. In 1988, he became a part of singer Bill Gaither’s band, the Gaithersburg Vocal Band as the baritone.
Over the years, “Mary, Did You Know” has been covered by a plethora of artists from CeeLo Green, Faith Evans, Mary J. Bilge, the Pentatonix, the Braxton Sisters, and more.
