TobyMac remembers going to the first official songwriting session for his album “Life After Death,” and it wasn’t the usual pleasant feeling.

Normally, writing songs with a collaborator is exciting, something to anticipate as an artist wonders if creative magic will occur in the writing room that day. But these weren’t normal times for TobyMac (whose full name is Toby McKeehan).

In October 2019, Truett Foster McKeehan, the oldest of his five children, died from an accidental overdose. An aspiring musician, Truett, 21, had just launched his solo career. While he had battled addictions in the past, signs were pointing toward a bright future, and Truett’s father was proud of what his son had seemingly overcome and accomplished.

Aside from a single, “21 Years,” that he wrote soon after losing his son, TobyMac hadn’t written new material. Starting an album created some uneasiness.

“You feel like you shouldn’t go back to what (you do),” TobyMac said of the first writing session. “If you go back to normal, in some way you’re dishonoring your lost loved one.

“But when I got there, I just started writing this song ‘Faithfully’ — it’s a very personal song,” he said. “It was so deeply personal to me, about God’s faithfulness at the hardest time in my life.”

As he moved forward with songwriting, it became clear that “Life After Death” would be about losing Truett and the path toward healing that TobyMac and his family had taken over the previous two years. The album was released in 2022.

TobyMac’s nine albums have combined to sell more than 5 million copies and win seven Grammy Awards.“Life After Death” has given TobyMac three No. 1 Christian music singles in “Help Is on the Way (Maybe Midnight),” “The Goodness” and “Cornerstone” (as well the Top 5 single in “Promised Land”) to go with his seven previous chart-topping songs.

Those songs figure to be included on his “Hits Deep” tour, which comes Sunday to The Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs. As the title suggests, TobyMac’s set will focus on hit songs from throughout his career, but he’s pleased that the success of the album will allow him to spotlight “Life After Death” in these concerts.

“The beautiful part about it is we’ve already had three significant singles off it, so those three, I’m not forcing them into the hits category,” TobyMac said.