Forrest Frank Jumps Around and Praises Jesus in First Concert since Breaking His Back

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Christian artist Forrest Frank danced and leapt across the stage at the Iowa State Fair on Thursday as he praised God in his first concert since breaking his back, declaring that the Lord had turned "lemons into lemonade." Frank and special guest Lecrae became the first Christian artists to sell out the Grandstand at the fair, with 15,804 music fans packing every seat in the facility -- and organizers selling standing room only tickets the day of the show. 

Frank fractured two vertebrae in his back during a July 19 skateboarding accident, an injury that left him bedridden in excruciating pain and that jeopardized his much-anticipated appearance at the fair.

"I broke my back, but something happened in the midst of it, when God turned some lemons into lemonade," he told fans before launching into his hit song Lemonade, recorded during his recovery with The Figs, who surprised the crowd with an on-stage appearance.

Frank said he woke up two weeks after the accident in no pain, even able to pick up his two-year-old son. He called it a miracle. 

"Cant wait to tell our grandkids this story (if Jesus hasn't come back yet)," he wrote on Instagram after the concert, alongside a verse, Isaiah 40:31: "But those who trust in the LORD for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not grow weak."

He kept the focus on Jesus throughout the concert. 

"I know it's a lot of jumping around, but I want y'all to know tonight is all about one name. It's not my name, it's Jesus Christ," Frank said, according to the Iowa City Press-Citizen. "With everything I have in me, I'm going to praise with every cell and fiber of my body, and I'll ask that you would do the same."

Frank was formerly part of the mainstream duo Surfaces before transitioning to Christian music. 

"I never wanted to go on the road...But I feel a call from God to be here," he said. "I started out making secular music. … But I wasn't close enough to Jesus. To hear this whisper, that I think was there constantly, but I was ignoring it. At some point, it grew into a nudge, and I could feel it in my stomach …and this came out of my quiet time … and it launched this whole Christian thing."  

He won New Artist of the Year at the 2024 Dove Awards. 

Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.