With two Grammy Awards and five GMA Dove Awards to their credit, duo For King & Country—comprised of Australian-born brothers Joel, 35, and Luke Smallbone, 33—is well known in the Christian pop community. Country music fans were likely introduced to the duo during the recent remix of their hit song, “God Only Knows,” which featured Dolly Parton. The duo’s original version of the song reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Christian Airplay chart in 2019. Joel and Luke also teamed with Dolly for the first live performance of “God Only Knows” at the CMA Awards on Nov. 13.
The brothers delivered a rousing performance of “Little Drummer Boy” during the CMA Country Christmas TV special that aired on Dec. 3. Over the years, the popular Christmas tune has been covered by a who’s who of artists, including Johnny Cash, Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix, Emmylou Harris, Bob Seger, Neil Diamond and more.
In addition to For King & Country, a number of stars took the stage to sing their favorite yuletide tunes during the show, including Trisha, Dierks Bentley, Runaway June, Kristin Chenoweth, , Chris Janson, Tori Kelly, Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts, Runaway June, CeCe Winans, Chris Young and Brett Young.
Watch For King & Country perform “Little Drummer Boy” below.
photo by Curtis Hilbun, AFF-USA.com
