With winners announced last night for the 41st Annual GMA Dove Awards, Casting Crowns nabbed the evening's highest honor, "Artist of the Year". After scoring five consecutive Group of the Year titles from the Gospel Music Association, this top-selling act in Christian music since 2007 receives top recognition for the first time in this fan-voted category.

"To me, it's extra special because the fans were voting," Casting Crowns lead singer and songwriter Mark Hall reported the Associated Press. "It really wasn't anywhere on our radar."

Performing its ninth smash No. 1 radio hit, and title track from the band's latest project, "Until the Whole World Hears," on the award show, Casting Crowns was joined on stage and in the aisles of the Grand Ole Opry House by a 200-voice children's choir from New Hope Academy in Franklin, Tenn. By the end of the song, the packed audience was singing the song's powerful gospel message in unison. The televised show will air nationwide on gmc Sunday, April 25, from 8 p.m. - 10 p.m. EST. Advertisement

Casting Crowns' fourth album, "Until the Whole World Hears", certified RIAA Gold in four weeks, spanning another chart-topping hit for the platinum-selling supergroup. The project's title track was also nominated for Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year. Selling 167,000 first-week copies, the historical debut of "Until The Whole World Hears" set a sales record for the group as the highest debuting Christian Music artist in SoundScan history (week ending 11/22/09).

Additionally, Hall received a Dove for his participation on "Glory Revealed II: The Word of God In Worship", winner in the Special Event Album of the Year category.

The RIAA Gold certification of "Until The Whole World Hears" adds a third Gold album to the band's collection. To date, all of the Atlanta-based band's projects are RIAA certified, with a monster tally of two RIAA Platinum Albums, two RIAA Platinum DVDs, now three RIAA Gold Albums and a Gold DVD, further establishing its unprecedented six-year career.

The band is currently headlining its highly-successful "Until The Whole World Hears" Tour with Tenth Avenue North, who won Song of the Year last night for "By Your Side." The powerhouse tour rounds out the final segment of shows in April and May. The spring leg of the "Until The Whole World Hears" Tour follows a well-received, 41-city run of fall dates on which Casting Crowns played multiple sell-out performances.