Songfacts®:

• Christian artist Don Francisco is best known for his narrative style of songwriting. By this means he gets his message across by concentrating on the narratives of the songs, which are frequently the re-telling of Biblical events. He explained to CCM magazine in 1982, "The songs that tend to have the most power are stories."
• The inspiration for this song came from a different one that Francisco was playing in concert at the time, about Jesus' crucifixion. In the liner notes for Don Francisco: The Early Works he explained: "I sat down with the intention of trying to write about the Resurrection, because, let's face it, the Crucifixion is just half the story, and the worst half by far."
• Francisco's original intention when writing the song was to tell it from the perspective of the Apostle Thomas. He planned to set it in the room where the disciples were when Jesus appeared to them and spoke to Thomas. However he couldn't make it work, so he tried instead to do it from Peter's perspective. By putting a lot of his deepest feelings into Peter's experience he crafted a consummate telling of the Resurrection story, which ended up as his best known tune.
• This was the #1 song when CCM's first chart was published and it holds the record for the longest-running chart single in the history of Christian radio.
• This tune won Don Francisco the 1980 Dove Award for Song of the Year. He also took home the prize for Songwriter of the Year at the same ceremony.
• Reba McEntire performed "He's Alive" during CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton, broadcast on October 21, 2026, from Belmont University's Fisher Center for the Performing Arts in Nashville. The Belmont University student ensemble joined her during the performance, which received a standing ovation.
  
  The selection recalled Parton's celebrated performance of "He's Alive" at the 1989 CMA Awards. Parton also recorded the song on her 1989 album White Limozeen.
• Don Francisco posted on his Facebook page after hearing of Dolly's passing:
  
  "Dolly Parton heard "He's Alive" while riding on her tour bus. Her recording of it was heard all over the world by millions of people that I could never have reached on my own. After a standing ovation for her performance at the Country Music Awards, she sent me flowers to thank me for the song. Although it never happened in this life, I know we will meet soon..."