Singer/songwriter John Mark McMillan was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina. He issued his debut album, Hope Anthology, Vol. 1, in 2002, followed in 2005 by The Song Inside the Sounds of Breaking Down, the latter of which included the single "How He Loves," which has since gone on to become a popular and oft-covered worship song. The Integrity Music-issued Medicine and Economy arrived in 2010 and 2011, respectively, followed in 2014 by Borderland, which was issued via his own Lionhawk label. That record hit the Top 50 of the Billboard 200, a first for McMillan, and in the summer of 2015, he released the You Are the Avalanche EP with his wife, Sarah McMillan. It was followed that fall by a live album titled Live at the Knight, which featured special guest performances by Kim Walker-Smith, Bryan & Katie Torwalt, and Sarah McMillan, and had been recorded earlier in the year at the Knight Theater in Charlotte, North Carolina. McMillan's sixth LP, Mercury & Lightning, arrived in 2017, followed by the one-off single "Wilderlove" in 2018.