He’s a Grammy-nominated recording artist with a major story to share.
Even so, his life story nearly ended before it began. That painful reality is why his young mother named him Major. And recently, he happily celebrated another birthday.
CBN News’ Studio 5 sat down for an interview with the soulful pop star for a look at his latest project.
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Major R. Johnson Finley is best known to his fans as MAJOR.
MAJOR. grew up in a blended family of 13 children. Music came early and easy for the Houston native, who attended the same arts high school as Beyonce.
Hometown fans still call him “Choir Boy.” And these days, he’s also called “The Hope Dealer.”
His song, This Is Why I Love You, introduced him to the world in 2016 and opened the door for him to act in the hit Fox television series Star. But MAJOR.’s success didn’t come overnight.
CBN News’ Studio 5 caught up with MAJOR. on the first Atlanta stop of his MAJOR. Hope Experience Tour. The tour’s success will bring MAJOR. back to The Peach City on April 19 at City Winery in Atlanta.
“Before people knew of me for This Is Why I Love You, I was told so many no’s,” MAJOR. said. “And I still experience no’s, and so many opinions. An expert telling me a song is not going to work for radio.”
And before his music career took off, both American Idol and NBC’s The Voice rejected him.
MAJOR. recalled, “They said I was great, but, no thanks.”
“Simon said, ‘I was too polished for the show (American Idol).’ I’m like, this is strange. This is weird,” he told Studio 5.
“This is discouraging because you just kind of build your hope on the things that you think are what it is. That’s when I realized that my hope has to be anchored in something that is more constant than things that I am aiming towards. And that’s why my hope is in my faith center, God,” MAJOR. shared.
A Grammy nomination and two albums later, MAJOR. is now touring the country with a new spoken word project.
MAJOR. told Studio 5, “I’ve been about this work all of my life. I was awakened to the call when I graduated college. I was the first of my siblings to graduate. My mom tells me why she named me MAJOR. She was pregnant with a kid out of wedlock and considered abortion.”
“So, she’s like what do I do with this child that people are going to judge me for having if I have it,” he told Studio 5.
“Divine intervention stepped in, and on her way twice to the abortion clinic, she had severe car trouble. From a tire busting to a tire going flat. So, she was like, ‘God I hear you. I am going to have this child and if I name him Major, I pray he makes a major impact on the world.’ So, we salute moms, with always having intention.”
Impact and intention bring us back to MAJOR.’s most popular song, This Is Why I Love You.
“I was writing the love song and I was trying to figure out ways to be clever. And I said (to my producer) Harmony, ‘Words are coming, but they don’t feel real,’ he explained. “And I said, ‘I know heartbreak. I don’t know a consistent love that is showing me what I want to sing about.’ And (Harmony) said, ‘You’ve never experienced it (from anyone)?’ And I said, ‘God.’ So, he said, ‘Write to God.’ And as I prayed, I remember hearing, ‘Write about me, and the rest of the world will sing along.”
The world is singing along. MAJOR.’s love letter to God has seen more than 130 million views on YouTube alone.
The remainder of this article is available in its entirety at CBN
