Hillsong United (band)
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Hillsong United | |
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Origin | Sydney, Australia |
Genre(s) | Worship music Contemporary Christian |
Years active | 1999 – present |
Label(s) | Hillsong Music Australia |
Website | http://www.hillsong.com/united/ |
Members | |
Joel Houston Jonathon Douglass (J.D.) Jadwin "Jad" Gillies Brooke Fraser Annie Garratt Michelle Fragar Holly Watson Melvin Lourdes Scott Ligertwood |
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Former members | |
Marty Sampson Reuben Morgan Tulele Faletolu Luke Munns Michael Guy Chislett |
The Hillsong United band is an Australian rock and worship band, a part of Hillsong Church's youth ministry Hillsong United. Their music is a contemporary style of praise and worship tempered with mainstream rock.
Contents |
[edit] History
The band formed as close friends from within Hillsong Church's youth ministry, originally called 'Powerhouse Youth', led for many years by Donna Crouch. As the house band for the youth meetings of Powerhouse, the band played covers of Hillsong Church and various other ministries' music, sometimes members contributing to Youth Alive and its' albums (Darlene Zschech was involved in Youth Alive before Hillsong Church). Dr Mark Evans (Macquarie Uni) states in his Ph. D thesis, "A youth band was formed from the Hillsong music team, which took what was happening in the church musically and played it louder and rockier, appealing directly to a youth demographic". Steve McPherson, Deb Ezzy and Donia Makedonez were significant members. Powerhouse grew and was split in the late 1990s into two youth groups, 'Powerhouse' (18-25 years of age) and 'Wildlife' (12-16 yrs). Reuben Morgan, assisted by Marcus Beaumont and Tanya Riches were placed in charge of the Powerhouse band, with the former Channel V Leg-Up competition winner 'Able' band boys, Joel Houston and Marty Sampson in charge of Wildlife, while Luke Munns was the main drummer, and Michael Guy Chislett the main guitarist. In the Summer of 1997, the youth groups and these bands joined for the annual Summercamp, and the camp was called 'United'.
Delirious?' Martin Smith's song 'Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble' was the theme song of the camp, and the momentum of youth carried well beyond the camp into church services. Reuben Morgan wrote 'My Redeemer Lives' as a way for the youth to continue worshipping, along with many other songs that appear on the album 'By Your Side' written by Marty Sampson and Luke Munns (Stay).
Darlene Zschech suggested to Reuben that they make an album in 1998 after many songs were written in the youth ministry, and the EP 'One' was recorded. The album was packaged with the Hillsong annual album, and both achieved Gold sale status in Australia. 'Everyday' was recorded in 1999. The band continued to release an album each year, rebranding as Hillsong United in 2002 after Reuben Morgan stepped down as co-worship leader of the band. Joel Houston, the eldest son of the church's senior pastor Brian Houston, stepped up to lead the group together with Marty.
Current members of the Hillsong United band include Jonathon Douglass (J.D.), Jadwin "Jad" Gillies, Holly Watson, Annie Garratt, Bec Gillies, and Michelle Fragar, daughter of Russell Fragar. Michael Guy Chislett plays guitar and Matthew Tennikoff plays bass guitar. Former original drummer Luke Munns made a transition from the drums to front the rock/indie band LUKAS. Popular New Zealand artist Brooke Fraser recently joined the band when she joined the church, first appearing on United We Stand.
The annual Hillsong United CD/DVD was recorded over many years during their October youth conference Encounterfest, with the album released in the first quarter of the following year. The 2007 album All of the Above was the first album to be fully studio recorded, containing videos of songs on the DVD. The band has toured in a number of countries, leading worship to thousands in North and South America, Europe and Asia.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Live albums
- 1999: Everyday
- 2000: Best Friend
- 2001: King of Majesty
- 2002: To the Ends of the Earth
- 2004: More Than Life
- 2005: Look to You
- 2006: United We Stand
- 2008: The I Heart Revolution: With Hearts As One
[edit] Studio albums
- 2007: All of the Above
[edit] EPs
- 1998: One
- 2007: In a Valley by the Sea
[edit] Other Albums
- 2006: Unidos Permanecemos (United We Stand in Spanish)
[edit] DVDs
- 2004: More Than Life (bonus DVD with album)
- 2005: Look to You (bonus DVD with album)
- 2006: United We Stand (bonus DVD with album)
- 2007: All of the Above (bonus DVD with album)
- September 2008 "The I Heart Revolution: We're All In This Together"
[edit] Success and achievements
Hillsong United's 2006 album United We Stand was the best-selling album of 2006 in Canada at Christian retail stores. The album All of the Above was released on March 17, 2007 in Australia, where it debuted and peaked at #6 on the ARIA Charts.[1] In the United States, the album was released on May 22, 2007, selling 10,505 units in its first week. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top Christian/Gospel Albums chart, #1 on iTunes' chart of Christian music digital album sales, and #60 on the Billboard 200.[2] The first single released from the album, "Point of Difference", was a top ten hit on Christian radio in Australia.
[edit] See also
- Youth Alive Australia
- The I Heart Revolution
[edit] External links
- Hillsong United Music album and Lyrics
- Official website
- Hillsong United Albums
- Hillsong United (band) at MySpace
- Interview @ Christian Music Today, 6/07
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