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Quick: What Christian crooner is one of Billboard's ten best-selling artists of all time? Steven Curtis Chapman? Not even close. Bill Gaither? Nah. Try 71-year-old Pat Boone, the eternally youthful entertainer. Boone broke through in 1955 with a cover of Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame," went on to rival Elvis for America's adoration, and charted 61 radio hits—not to mention various stints in film, TV and books—in his storied career, all while standing firm in his Christian faith.

The eternally youthful Pat Boone

Boone now celebrates 50 years in show business with his new CD Glory Train: The Lost Sessions—an album originally recorded in the 1980s, but misplaced for 20 years before recently resurfacing. Boone added an all-star tribute to the world's most famous evangelist, "Thank You, Billy Graham," as the first track on the CD. The song features an intro from U2 frontman Bono, plus appearances from the likes of Andrae Crouch, dc Talk, Kenny Rogers, LeAnn Rimes, Michael McDonald, Vestal Goodman, Marty Stuart, and even a spoken part from Larry King. The video version of the song includes plenty of footage of Graham through the years, and is worth a look.

In this candid conversation with Christian Music Today, Boone discusses his rediscovery of this record, the all-star cast behind the Graham tribute, and his strange-but-true venture into the world of heavy metal almost a decade ago.

Considering it's been 20 years since you recorded Glory Train, what's your opinion of it today?

Pat Boone I am very proud of the whole album. It's almost archival, yet it was ahead of its time. It was ahead of Jars of Clay, it was ahead of Michael W. Smith's crossover with "Friends" and some of Amy Grant's things. I felt at the time we should quit trying to make gospel music for the Christian ghetto and make music that would communicate with people across the board, but with gospel content.

We thought Motown would want to put it out on their Motown Country label, but they felt it was too much of a gospel album. We took it to a couple of the gospel labels, and they felt it was too commercial. So here we were with a hybrid, it seems, and that's why it got shelved, which was a great disappointment to me and Ray [producer Ray Ruff]. Then when we decided the time had come to put it out, we couldn't find the tapes. They had been lost completely. Oh, it was sickening to us.

How did you find them?

Lookin' hip in 1957

Boone Ray hired a private detective who searched everywhere, but we just couldn't find them. We had given up. Then his wife was cleaning out this big closet in their home and came across these two old boxes. She said to Ray, "Do you want to throw these out?" He asked, "What?" She said, "I think it says 'gospel' and 'Pat Boone'?" He said, "Wait a minute!" And sure enough it was Glory Train.

Why did you add the Billy Graham tribute?

Boone We've had a wonderful friendship going way back. We've visited each other's homes and attended many functions together. I've just admired him as most everybody does. I believe he is the most important human figure since the first century, more than any our of founding fathers, because he devoted his life to not only bettering millions and millions of people's lives in this world, but also helping them to secure their eternal destiny.

I thought somebody better not wait to eulogize and to honor him. I just felt an urgency to do something and to let other people join in and sing our praise of Billy, to honor him while he could receive it. He has heard it and been very gracious in saying how much he appreciates it. He doesn't think he deserves it, but the DVD [included free with the CD] is chock full of images of all these things he's been doing all these years.

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