Bless the Broken Road
"Bless the Broken Road" is a song that has been recorded by several American country music artists. Co-written by Marcus Hummon, Bobby Boyd, and Jeff Hanna in 1994, it tells how the journey through relationship heartbreak and disappointment was an important series of lessons along the broken road to finding one’s true love. It was first recorded by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1994, followed by Hummon on his 1995 album All in Good Time.
"Bless the Broken Road"
1994
3:50
Marcus Hummon
Bobby Boyd
Jeff Hanna
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
September 5, 1995
4:09
Marcus Hummon
Bobby Boyd
Jeff Hanna
Monroe Jones
Since then, many artists have recorded the song, with Rascal Flatts' version being the highest-charting, becoming a number 1 hit on the Billboard country music charts in 2005 and earning the songwriters a Grammy Award for Best Country Song.
History[edit]
Singer-songwriter Marcus Hummon co-wrote the song with Jeff Hanna (of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) and Bobby Boyd. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band recorded it for the 1994 album Acoustic. One year later, Hummon covered the song for his debut album All in Good Time for Columbia Records.[1] His rendition includes backing vocals from Hanna and Matraca Berg.[2] Michael McCall of New Country magazine thought that Hummon's rendition was the best track on the album.[3]
Sons of the Desert recorded its own version of the song, for a planned second album on Epic Records that would have been released in 1998. This album was not released, due to a dispute between the band and its label.[4]
Since then, many artists have recorded the song including Melodie Crittenden, Geoff Moore, Selah, Jamie Slocum, Carrie Underwood, Buddy Greene, Boyce Avenue and Rascal Flatts.
"Broken Road"
January 1998
3:52
Asylum #9945
Marcus Hummon
Bobby Boyd
Jeff Hanna
Byron Gallimore
Stephony Smith[5]
November 1, 2004
3:46 (Album Version)
3:38 (Single Version)
- Marcus Hummon
- Bobby Boyd
- Jeff Hanna
- Mark Bright
- Rascal Flatts
- Marty Williams
March 2006
4:10
Marcus Hummon
Bobby Boyd
Jeff Hanna
Allan Hall, Jason Kyle, Todd D. Smith
Film adaptation[edit]
A feature film based on the song, titled God Bless the Broken Road, began filming in 2015, and was originally announced to be released in 2016.[29] The actual release was September 7, 2018.[30]