Born in Wisner, Louisiana, CCM singer and songwriter Wayne Watson first aimed for a professional baseball career. During his college years he began experimenting with music, and following graduation he took regular gigs performing at local churches. While leading worship at a Christian youth camp, one camper’s father recorded the set on video and forwarded the tape to a Nashville industry contact, which led to Watson’s first album, Workin’ in the Final Hour, released in 1980. A string of follow-ups appeared over the next several years, including New Lives for Old in 1982, Man in the Middle in 1984, and Giants in the Land in 1985, before his breakthrough arrived with the Grammy-nominated Watercolor Ponies in 1987. By that point he had already collected more than a dozen Dove Award nominations and scored numerous CCM hits such as “The Class of ’95,” “Be in Her Eyes,” “A Beautiful Place,” “Walk in the Dark,” “More of You,” “It’s Time,” “Home Free,” and “Almighty.” In 1995 he moved to Warner/Alliance for Field of Souls; three years later came The Way Home. His composition “For Such a Time as This” served as the theme for the 1999 season premiere of the CBS series Touched by an Angel, underscoring Watson’s expanding reach beyond strictly Christian audiences.
