Pat Boone Says ‘This Is the Most Important Thing I’ve Ever Done’ as He Tops Billboard again
Legendary singer Pat Boone has a new hit, but the same gospel-centered message that has long defined his career. Boone in early April returned to Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart with One: Voices for Tanzania, a collaborative song with such artists as Vince Gill, Alabama and Lee Greenwood that raises awareness about the urgent need for clean water and necessities for Tanzanians. Proceeds will directly support the initiative.
Some 300 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa live without clean drinking water, including nearly half of Tanzania's population.
The song echoes the heart of the 1980s hit We Are the World.
Boone's songs filled the Billboard charts in the 1950s and 1960s but had not appeared on the Adult Contemporary chart since 1961 -- a gap spanning 63 years and eight months. It's a new Billboard record for the longest gap between chart appearances.
"I know that it's a God thing," Boone told Crosswalk Headlines.
The 90-year-old singer said he is driven in this effort by Scripture.
"In the words of Jesus himself from Matthew 10: If you give a cup of clear water … to a child, you will certainly not lose your reward from my own Father," he said, citing Matthew 10:42.
"That's a promise, a specific promise," Boone said.
Boone also cited the warning from Jesus in Matthew 25 about serving "the least of these" -- a passage he calls the "last exam" for humanity.
"I think this is the most important thing I've ever done in my life," Boone said of the project for Tanzania.
Boone already had a presence in Tanzania with the Pat Boone Family Life Center and his partnership with WorldServe International to build wells, schools, and a health center.
The under-5 mortality rate for children in Tanzania is 43 deaths per 1,000 live births. In the U.S., it's 6 per 1,000.
"They don't have access to reliable drinking water, so their kids drink poison [water]. And the women go across the desert with empty buckets, and then they go to a muddy ditch somewhere where there's some trickling water," Boone said.
Children who live past 5, he said, often carry illnesses into adulthood.
Other artists on One: Voices for Tanzania include Billy Dean, Wendy Moten, and Pam Tillis. The song also features singers from Tanzania.
"I cry every time I hear their voices because these are people singing in their own language words I wrote, but they're pleading for their own families, for their own loved ones," Boone said. "... As they sing, it's so Holy Spirit-created."
Related Article: Pat Boone Tops Billboard again with Emotional Song about Water Crisis in Africa
Photo Credit: ©One For Tanzania
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.
Listen to Michael's Podcast! He is the host of Crosswalk Talk, a podcast where he talks with Christian movie stars, musicians, directors, and more. Hear how famous Christian figures keep their faith a priority in Hollywood and discover the best Christian movies, books, television, and other entertainment. You can find Crosswalk Talk on LifeAudio.com, or subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an interview that will be sure to encourage your faith.
Originally published April 29, 2025.
