‘Flamy Grant’ becomes first drag performer to top Christian music charts on iTunes

Aug 1, 2023 by Dave Doveton

By Ian M. Giatti, Christian Post. (Photo credit: You Tube/DerekWebb)

For the first time ever, a man who performs in makeup and women’s clothing has hit No. 1 on the Christian music charts — a feat in part due to criticism from worship artist Sean Feucht.

Matthew Blake, who wears makeup and women’s clothing and performs under the name Flamy Grant, released the album “Bible Belt Baby” last year but recently hit the top spot on the iTunes Christian and Gospel chart along with the album’s lead single, “Good Day.”

Following the album’s unlikely success, Feucht, best known for his “Let Us Worship” tour during the COVID-19 lockdowns, criticized Derek Webb, former singer for CCM band Caedmon’s Call, who collaborated with Blake on “Good Day” and shared a photo of Blake, Webb, and Tiffany Arbuckle Lee, singer for Plumb, a former award-winning CCM band.

Feucht tweeted: “If you’re wondering the end goal of the deconstruction movement in the church, then look no further than former worship leader @derekwebb’s new collab with a drag queen. These are truly the last days.”

In response to Feucht’s tweet, Blake commented, “End goal? Baby we’re just getting started” and called on his Instagram followers to “prove Feucht wrong.”

In a September 2022 interview, Blake acknowledged his drag name was inspired by “arguably the most successful Christian artist of all time,” CCM legend Amy Grant.

He also revealed his upbringing in a home in which he was “only allowed to listen to Christian” music.

“In my house growing up we were only allowed to listen to Christian and gospel music, so as a closeted queer kid Amy Grant was my version of an inspirational diva,” he was quoted as saying.

In March, the self-described “gospel & roots musician from the Bible Belt” starred in a one-man drag show called Godless Sheathen: A Drag Comedy Cabaret about “a sinner saved by lace.”

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