This is the story of Billy Ray Cyrus, well-known for his country Gospel songs and acting in movies and on TV.

Cyrus was raised in Kentucky where his paternal grandfather was a Pentecostal preacher and his maternal grandfather was a musician who played gigs with a small-town band. Cyrus grew up with the influence of church but never really felt the peace and contentment that real Christians feel. He sang in the choir at church and did solos with his dad, but always felt that his applause was not real.

When he was 5 years old, his parents divorced. He stayed with his mother and two siblings. They were dirt poor and often his mother had to scrounge for enough money to feed her kids. She was a hard-working and dedicated woman who loved her children very deeply.

During his teenage years, Cyrus won tickets to a Neil Diamond concert that was coming to his town. He was thrilled to be able to attend. When Diamond performed his “Holly Holy Love,” Cyrus was touched deeply by the song and decided then and there that he would become a performer.  

He worked and saved until he had enough to buy a guitar and start a band.

His band would play gigs on weekends and during the week he would head for Nashville to beat on doors and try to get his start in the business. When he became discouraged with Nashville, he decided that Los Angeles was the place, but he failed there also.

Discouraged and downtrodden, he headed back home, a failure in his own mind. But a church service in his grandfather’s church became a turning point in his life.         

Although his grandfather was no longer with this church, the preacher spoke on how God reached out for desperate people. He listened intently and took it to heart. He knelt and said a desperate prayer.    

That very same night, he did his gig in West Virginia and later headed for Nashville. Enroute, he called Mercury Records and insisted on a meeting with the president of the company. Upon much persuasion, he finally arranged to meet with him with the agreement that he would not come back if it wasn’t good.    

During this meeting, he played and sang his original song “Some Gave All,” the story of a Vietnam veteran that later became a No. 1 hit. The president left the room without a word and Cyrus was crushed. He was packing up his stuff to leave when the president came back in and talked to him about a contract.

Later, when Cyrus was nominated for a Grammy, he wore a T-shirt with the sleeves cut off that cited John 3:16 —  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

When he did not win the Grammy, his manager and group blamed his shirt.

It was on the plane back to Nashville that he was reading the LA Times’ headline: “Cyrus Big Loser — Not Even God Could Help Billy Ray Cyrus Win a Grammy.” Bob Seger, who was one of Billy’s idols and also on that plane, touched him on the shoulder and said, “Put that under your feet where it belongs.” That gave him encouragement and a warm feeling.

He then began making Gospel records and doing some acting. He got a role in the TV series “Doc.” He also starred in other films and has become famous.    

He is very well-known for his record “Achy Breaky 

Heart,” as well as other top hits. He was asked to write a song about his own life, but his songs come out of inspiration rather than determination. When he asks God to give him the song, it comes to him. He feels it is God who is writing the music.

His world had been spinning out of control to the point that he didn’t feel God was listening to him any longer. But when he took the time to listen, he discovered the love of the Father in a way that he never knew existed. Now he is focused on family, has come back to life and bases his life on spirituality. He realizes that he wasted a lot of time and wishes he had known Jesus all through those years. The important thing is that he knows Jesus now, which inspired him to write the song “Other Side.”

Other celebrities highlighted in “How do you know He’s real?” 

include actors Kirk Cameron, John Schneider and Gary Burghoff, musicians Charlie Daniels, Gloria Gaynor, Ricky Skaggs and Leon Patillo, and sports personalities, such as NFL defensive end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila and kicker Jason Hanson.

The book contains a total of 34 personalities revealing their walk in finding God, and how they know for sure that He is really real.