Lauren Daigle, Avril Lavigne perform worship music on 'Dancing With the Stars' grand finale
Artists Lauren Daigle and Avril Lavigne were both invited to perform their worship songs on the grand finale of “Dancing with the Stars” Monday night.
Pop-rocker Avril Lavigne re-emerged after a five-year hiatus with a new powerful single "Head Above Water," which is a song of what her cry to God looked like while almost experiencing a near-death experience. Lavigne took the “Dancing With the Stars” stage during model Alexia Ren’s dance routine.
"God keep my head above water / Don't let me drown / It gets harder / I'll meet you there at the altar / As I fall down to my knees / Don't let me drown / Don't let me drown," Lavigne belted out in the song's chorus as Ren danced.
The judges were afraid that because the song was so “powerful” it would overpower the dance, but they commended both women for a head to head performance.
In Septemeber, Lavigne released a statement, sharing the inspiration for "Head Above Water." In the announcement, she revealed that she turned to God when she thought her life was reaching its end.
"One night, I thought I was dying, and I had accepted that I was going to die. My mom laid with me in bed and held me. I felt like I was drowning. Under my breath, I prayed, 'God, please help to keep my head above the water.' In that moment, the songwriting of this album began," Lavigne said.
"Head Above Water" is the singer's first release since her song "Fly" in 2015. Her full album will be released in February 2019. As previously published by The Christian Post, Lavigne was "born into a devout Christian household and before her bad-girl image brought her mainstream success she sang in church choirs, local festivals and county fairs.
After several other performances, the show concluded with Christian singer Daigle, right before the dancing competition announced the season 27 winners.
Daigle has been making her mainstream TV rounds recently and she ended “Dancing With the Stars” by singing her hit single "You Say."
Prior to the show, the Grammy-nominated singer shared her pre-show excitement on Instagram.
"Hey everybody, it's Lauren Daigle. I'm here at Dancing with the Stars. Tonight's the finale, I'm singing 'You Say.' I can't wait to see all of you. Best wishes to all the finalists," she said.
“Taking all I have and now I'm laying it at Your feet / You have every failure God, and You'll have every victory,” Daigle declared in song while the finalists eagerly awaited to find out the results of the show.
After the performance, country radio host Bobby Bones and his professional dance partner, Sharna Burgess, were crowned the winners of "Dancing With the Stars."
In a recent interview with CP, 27-year-old, Daigle explained why she’s going outside of the church to spread her message of hope, which some fear might lead her astray and to abandon her worship roots to become a secular artist. Daigle, however, said her faith and mission in life has never been clearer.
"[My music] is having crossover appeal, but it doesn't mean that I'm leaving one for the other or that I'm going to be swept up by one thing or the other. For me, it's like, 'Oh, everything just got even more clear.' Everything just got clearer as to why it is that we go and love people who are outside of the walls of our church, outside of the walls that we're comfortable with," Daigle added.
Her album, Look Up Child debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart upon its release in September, beating out popular secular musicians such as Drake, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj and Cardi B that week.