Winter Jam Tour Spectacular—Christian music's biggest tour and the No. 1 tour in the world for the first quarter of the year for the past two years—launched this month with sellout performances, playing to more than 36,000 people in three nights.

Kicking off its 18th year Jan. 4 in Charleston, W.Va., the tour—headlined by GRAMMY-winning multi-Platinum recording artist TobyMac—also saw capacity crowds in Charlotte, N.C., and Chattanooga, Tenn.

Concluding March 30 in San Antonio, the 44-city tour also features Red, Matthew West, Jamie Grace, Sidewalk Prophets and Royal Tailor, as well as speaker Nick Hall. In addition, the Youth Music Vault Pre-Jam Party includes performances from Jason Castro, OBB and Capital Kings. Admission is $10 at the door, with no ticket required.

Playing to a total of nearly 535,000 people last year, Winter Jam outpaced attendance for all other tours, according to Pollstar's 2012 Worldwide First Quarter Ticket Sales Charts—Top 100 Tours, bypassing such key tours as Cirque du Soleil; "Michael Jackson: The Immortal"; Pink Floyd's Roger Waters; The Black Keys; Jason Aldean; and Brad Paisley.

"We are more passionate than ever about the ministry that drives the tour," said Eddie Carswell, creator of Winter Jam and founding member of NewSong. "Led by TobyMac, this year's lineup represents the diversity—and future—of Christian music."

Click here for information on Winter Jam 2013 Tour Spectacular.