For most 14-year-olds, life revolves around school, sports and figuring out who they are. For Tate Butts, it has also meant standing before arena crowds, releasing a debut EP and becoming one of Christian music’s fastest-rising young voices.
The South Carolina native has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on social media in less than a year, watched his breakout single, “My Defender,” chart on Billboard, shared stages with Brandon Lake and, most recently, collaborated with Forrest Frank on “Somebody Prayed,” an anthem celebrating the power of faithful grandparents.
While his star is rapidly climbing, Butts, who released his seven-song debut EP, Something To Believe In, on July 10, said the first lesson God has been teaching him has little to do with streaming numbers or sold-out arenas.
“I think it’s teaching me to not only celebrate at the highs, but also celebrate at the lows,” Butts told The Christian Post. “Have fun when everything’s calm before the storm, and all gets big. Not everything’s always going to be as crazy as it always is. It might not be as big as it normally is, but it’s still going to be a lot of fun.”
For Butts, the decision to make Christian music was an act of stewardship. The artist said that at an early age, he felt an “anointing” from God, adding: “I needed to use it to glorify Him.”
The young artist made his breakout debut at the end of 2025 with “My Defender,” which debuted at No. 38 on Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs chart.
Now, Butts’ new album, Something To Believe In, features songs including “Shadow,” “Could Woulda Shoulda” and “When I Pray,” which features the lyrics “There ain’t nowhere dark enough Your love can’t find me/ And remind me/ That You see something in me that I don’t see/ Yeah, You know me.”
The songs tackle questions of loneliness, anxiety and identity, all issues increasingly facing young people. Studies show that Generations Z and Alpha have grown up amid constant connectivity, yet experience record-high rates of loneliness and anxiety. Butts said he hopes his songs point listeners, particularly teens and young people, to the only One who can provide lasting hope.
“No matter where you are in life, what’s kicking you down, if you don’t have anywhere to run to, there’s always something to believe in, and that’s God,” the artist said. “God’s always going to be there. He’s never going to run away from you.”
He pointed to “Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda” as one of his most personal songs, written after the death of his grandmother. For the artist, the song became a way of processing what cannot be undone.
“I didn’t really say I love you,” he said. “I didn’t really talk to her as much as I should have. … That’s probably my most personal song. I love that song. That’s my favorite song I’ve ever written.”
Butts, whose videos regularly go viral, with nearly 700,000 followers on both Instagram and TikTok, said he views social media as a tool to share the Gospel. Even if only one person is impacted, he said, it’s worth it.
“[My sister told me], it may not be how big it is, but the people seeing your videos — that could change their life, that one video could save them,” he recalled. “You never know what they’re about to go do. It might not get a whole bunch of likes or comments, but it still could touch certain people’s hearts.”
When Forrest Frank invited Butts to appear on “Somebody Prayed,” he felt the song’s premise, that many blessings arrive because someone faithfully prayed long before they’re ever noticed, mirrored his own experience.
“The reason you’re where you’re at today couldn’t just be because of you,” Butts said. “It’s probably because my grandma was always praying for us. My mom, everybody’s always praying that God will open the doors that need to be open and shut the ones that don’t.”
According to Butts, he first heard from Frank after a viral performance with Brandon Lake in Columbia, South Carolina, where the duo delivered an acoustic performance of Lake’s song “Hard Fought Hallelujah.”
“[Frank] texted me and said, ‘Yo, I’ve been seeing all your videos. It’s insane,'” Butts recalled.
Frank gave him his phone number, then called a few days later with an invitation to record together. Then, in June, Frank invited Butts to share the stage in Nashville in front of roughly 25,000 people to perform their song. Before launching into the song, Frank asked the audience, “Does anybody in here believe that when we pray, something happens?”
“I was freaking out,” Butts remembered of the night. “Seeing all the younger kids, not just adults, worshiping the Lord was really special.”
He said Frank’s offstage character matched the persona millions have come to know online.
“He’s what you see on the internet,” Butts said. “How nice, how genuine he is — he’s just like that in person.”
Beyond learning how to command a stage, Butts said Frank and Lake, both chart-topping Christian artists who have also experienced crossover success, have modeled what it looks like to build careers without compromising their faith.
“They’re helping me learn more Christianity-wise,” he said. “They’re helping me learn how to perform better. They’re helping me step out of my comfort zone.”
Stepping outside that comfort zone has been one of Butts’ own greatest challenges. He shared how, for years, he wondered whether anyone would take him seriously because of his age.
“I used to think I was kind of too small,” he said. “I thought there weren’t really many people doing stuff at my age.”
“If I’m going to do something, I need to do it now,” he continued. “It’s better to step out of my comfort zone and help other people get to the Lord than just sit there and do nothing about it.”
Though he’d love to one day collaborate with Justin Bieber or Bruno Mars, Butts said his greatest ambition is that, decades from now, people will look back on his career and see someone who used his God-given gift to point others to “something, and Someone, to believe in.”
“[I hope people say] I brought a lot of other people closer to the Lord,” he said. “That I was one of the voices of the youth that was touching others’ hearts.”
Something To Believe Inis now available.
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]
