This 14yo Who Could Become the Next Brandon Lake (Tate Butts Story)

On a stop of Brandon Lake's King of Hearts Tour in October 2025, a fourteen-year-old from South Carolina walked out onto the stage — no announcement, no promo, nobody outside his own church even aware of his name — and sang "Hard Fought Hallelujah" next to one of the biggest names in Christian music. Lake posted the clip himself that same night. It didn't take long for the rest of the internet to catch up. That fourteen-year-old is Tate Butts. Within months of that moment, he'd release his debut single "My Defender" (debuting at No. 38 on Billboard's Hot Christian Songs chart), sit down with Jennifer Hudson for a national television segment titled "The 14-Year-Old Whose Voice Is Touching Millions," duet with fellow rising artist Forrest Frank, and release his debut EP, Something To Believe In — all while going to high school, managing an ADHD diagnosis, and growing up, by his own account, on a farm he's not particularly fond of. Chapters: 00:00 – The Boy Brandon Lake Invited Onstage 01:04 – Faith Before the Spotlight 02:24 – The Videos That Changed Everything 03:24 – The Competition That Opened the First Door 03:53 – The Night Brandon Lake Stepped Aside 04:24 – From Unknown to Millions 04:57 – Carrying Fame at Fourteen 05:56 – The Music Keeps Pointing to God 06:44 – Is Tate Butts the Next Brandon Lake? In this video, we tell the full story: how a kid singing worship covers in his own hallway ended up sharing a stage with Brandon Lake, why one of Christian music's biggest names decided to hand him the mic, and why almost nobody outside the Christian music world has noticed that one of its most promising new voices is only fourteen years old. WHO IS TATE BUTTS? Tate Butts was born in South Carolina in 2011 and raised in the local church alongside his musician siblings, Ty and Mady. He began posting worship covers and originals to social media as a kid — his parents have run his accounts from day one — and built a following the slow way, through home-recorded clips, before winning first place in Solo Songwriting at the 2025 International Teen Talent competition, hosted by the Global Worship Initiative at Lee University. That win came with a publishing deal through Spirit Sound Music Group, months before Brandon Lake ever brought him onstage. WHO IS BRANDON LAKE? Brandon Lake is a five-time Grammy winner whose songs are among the most-sung in American churches today, and he still serves as a worship pastor at Seacoast Church in Charleston, South Carolina. He's behind hits like "Gratitude," "Graves Into Gardens," and "Hard Fought Hallelujah" — his duet with Jelly Roll, which spent 34 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Christian Songs chart. 📖 About This Channel We are dedicated to covering the stories, news, and moments that matter most in the Christian and Catholic world — from the stages and the pulpits to the headlines you don't always hear about. If faith is your world, you're in the right place. 📩 Contact Us: [email protected]