Jimmy Lee Swaggart was born on March 15, 1935, in Ferriday, Louisiana, and, ministering under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, preached to capacity crowds in stadiums around the world while pioneering televangelism through his weekly telecast. He began his television ministry in 1975, and in the 1980's his programming was transmitted each week to more than 3,000 stations and innumerable cable systems, reaching more than 8 million people in the United States and more than 500 million worldwide. His ministry continued airing nationally and internationally to a potential audience of over 80 million, with the weekly Jimmy Swaggart Telecast and A Study in the Word carried on 78 channels in 104 countries and live over the internet, and his messages translated into 11 languages. At the end of 2009, Jimmy Swaggart Ministries launched the SonLife Broadcasting Network, a Christian television network with a potential viewing audience of more than 80 million. His ministry also became known for its music: he recorded more than 50 gospel albums, sold about 15 million recordings worldwide, and his first album, Some Golden Daybreak, was made mainly to give to people at his early revivals. Encouraged by Frances Swaggart to contact radio stations, he gained an overwhelming public response when his songs began airing on radio. In the spring of 1958, Sam Phillips, the producer who discovered Elvis Presley, invited the small-town piano-playing preacher to Memphis to become the first gospel artist on the Sun Record label, but Swaggart declined because his heart was to minister the Gospel. He later received recognition in gospel music, including being voted Favorite Gospel Music Artist for Singing News in 1974, being honored by Record World Magazine as Male Vocalist of the Year in 1977, becoming a Dove Award finalist in multiple categories in 1977, 1978, and 1980, and receiving Grammy recognition for Live from Nashville in 1976 and Worship in 1980. Swaggart also authored several Christian works, including the Expositor's Study Bible, as well as 12 study guides and 28 Bible commentaries, and served as pastor of the Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a multicultural, interdenominational, Full Gospel church that remained the spiritual hub of the ministry.