Bethel Music

Last updated

Bethel Music
Bethel Music logo small.jpg
Bethel Music Logo
Background information
Origin Redding, California, U.S.
Genres Contemporary worship music
Years active2001 (2001)–present
Members
Past members
Website bethelmusic.com

Bethel Music is an American Christian music label and publishing group. Begun as a local music ministry, it became a global outreach collective of songwriters and musicians.

Contents

History

Between 2009 and 2013, Bethel Music developed a record label and publishing company featuring songwriters and worship leaders from Bethel Church, a non-denominational megachurch in Redding, California. [1]

In February 2015, Bethel Music launched the "Bethel Music Artist Collective", an expansion of their group of locally based artists to include Josh Baldwin and Jonathan and Melissa Helser from another ministry which is based in North Carolina. [2] In June of the same year, Bethel added Christian artist Cory Asbury, formerly of the International House of Prayer. [3] In September 2015, Bethel announced that Leeland was joining Bethel's Artist Collective. [4]

Past and current members

Members of Bethel Music from 2009 to present [5] [6] [7]

Production history

Albums

Albums that have been produced by Bethel Music include: [8]

Singles

  1. released under the Heritage Music Group label

Releases and reception

Bethel Music's live album, We Will Not Be Shaken was produced by Bobby Strand and Chris Greely, and introduces 11 original songs led by the Bethel Music Artist Collective, including Brian Johnson, Jenn Johnson, Hunter Thompson, Amanda Cook and Matt Stinton, as well as debut artists Kalley Heiligenthal, Hannah McClure, Paul McClure, Jonathan David Helser and Melissa Helser. We Will Not Be Shaken was intended as a catalyst for other worship communities to remain steadfast in their faith no matter what the circumstances. The title track was inspired in a spontaneous moment of worship during a Sunday service and highlights God's enduring promises during times of trouble. [9]

CCM Magazine also lauded the album, saying that there "is quite a bit of buzz surrounding the anticipated release from Bethel Music...and it's all warranted. This is an album that simply soars above the rest... Every track holds a different aspect of beauty...flawless." Christian Review Magazine gave it a five-star review saying the album is an "out-and-out worship release on which each track contains lyrics that praise and glorify God, and point toward His faithfulness, love and grace." NewReleaseTuesday.com for its part loves the "anointed lyrics that are both emotionally stirring and grounded in truth alongside musical atmospheres that quiet the soul while simultaneously clearing space for God to speak." [9]

You Make Me Brave was recorded live at Redding's Civic Auditorium during Bethel Church's women's conference in the summer of 2013. The album features female worship leaders Jenn Johnson, Kari Jobe, Amanda Cook, Kristene DiMarco and more. According to The Church Collective, it is "classic Bethel", with 3 of the 12 tracks recorded during spontaneous moments of worship. Their reviewer goes on to say that "the worship leaders from Bethel seriously outdo themselves with their musical influence, heavy synth, and wisely put-together arrangements of songs." [10] Produced by Gabriel Solomon Wilson (www.GabrielWilson.net), & Daniel Mackenzie.

On March 11, Bethel Music released Have It All, a live album recorded at Bethel Church on weekend services. [11] The album features 14 songs led by Brian & Jenn Johnson, Jeremy Riddle, Steffany Gretzinger, Amanda Cook, William Matthews, Jonathan Helser & more. The album was birthed as a "declaration of the faith that becomes proved in us when we entrust our every moment into our Father's hands – the hands that carefully formed us and now lead us into fullness of life." [12] [ non-primary source needed ] The album was nominated for Worship Album of the Year and Recorded Music Packaging Award at the 2016 GMA Dove Awards, but won neither. [13]

Starlight is the first album recorded live on tour, a follow-up to You Make Me Brave (2014). The album is made up of 14 songs sung by Jenn Johnson, Steffany Gretzinger, Amanda Cook, Kristene DiMarco, Kalley Heiligenthal, Melissa Helser, Hannah McClure, and Francesca Battistelli. The message of the album is that, "like stars placed in the universe, no distance separates us from Him." [14] [ non-primary source needed ]

Moments: Mighty Sound is the first spontaneous album recorded live at WorshipU on Campus and included worship leaders Brian & Jenn Johnson, Steffany Gretzinger, Kalley Heiligenthal, Melissa Helser, Molly Skaggs, Amanda Cook, Jeremy Riddle, Leeland Mooring, Reuben Morgan, Brittany Mondesir, and Paul McClure. [15] [ non-primary source needed ]

Victory was recorded live at Bethel Church. The 14-track album was the start of the promotional Victory Tour in which the Bethel Music Collective traveled across the United States. The album was recorded during several hardships faced by the Bethel community, including the near death of the two-year-old son of Bethel Music's CEO Joel Taylor [16] and the Carr Fire near Redding, California and the surrounding areas. [17]

Events and tours

Bethel Music regularly tours both in the U.S. and internationally. [18] [ non-primary source needed ] Artists from the Bethel Music family visited South Africa for the first time in March 2015 and led evenings of worship in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. [19]

In October 2016, Bethel artists Brian and Jenn Johnson, Amanda Cook, Steffany Gretzinger, Jonathan and Melissa Helser, Kalley Heiligenthal, Kristene DiMarco, Paul and Hannah McClure, and Josh Baldwin embarked on a two-week tour to record a live album with guest worship leader Francesca Battistelli. On March 1, 2017, it was announced that the album would be titled Starlight, with pre-orders beginning on March 17 and the official release of the album to be on April 7. [20]

Achievements

Bethel Music's songs were among the most played contemporary worship music in American churches in 2019 [21] [22] and their albums have reached the Billboard 200 multiple times. [23] [24] Bethel Music have many songs with tens of millions of views on YouTube, and two with over 100 million views as 2019. [25] Their songs and albums have been among the most streamed and downloaded Christian music on Spotify and iTunes. [26] [27]

Awards and nominations

Billboard Music Awards

YearNominee / workAwardResultRef.
2020 Victory Top Christian Album Nominated [28]
"Raise a Hallelujah" Top Christian Song Nominated
2021 Peace Top Christian Album Nominated [29]

GMA Dove Awards

YearNominee / workAwardResult
2015 We Will Not Be Shaken Worship Album of the YearNominated
2016 "No Longer Slaves" Song of the Year Nominated
Worship Song of the YearWon
Have It All Worship Album of the YearNominated
Recorded Music Packaging of the YearNominated
Without Words: Synesthesia Instrumental Album of the YearWon
2017 "The Lion and the Lamb" Song of the Year Nominated
Worship Song of the YearNominated
"Ever Be"Worship Song of the YearNominated
2019 "Raise a Hallelujah"Worship Recorded Song of the YearNominated
Victory Worship Album of the YearNominated
Recorded Music Packaging of the YearNominated
2020 "Goodness of God"Worship Recorded Song of the YearNominated
Peace Worship Album of the YearNominated
Without Words: Genesis Instrumental Album of the YearNominated
2021 Revival's in the Air Worship Album of the YearNominated
Recorded Music Packaging of the YearNominated
2022 "You're Gonna Be OK"
(featuring Jenn Johnson)
Inspirational Recorded Song of the YearNominated
Homecoming Worship Album of the YearNominated
2023 "Goodness of God"Song of the YearWon
Come Up HereWorship Album of the YearNominated
Long Form Video of the YearWon

Related Research Articles

<i>Tides</i> (Bethel Music album) 2013 studio album by Bethel Music

Tides is the first studio album by California-based worship collective Bethel Music, it is also the sixth album overall to be released. The album was released on September 3, 2013 by the group's imprint label, Bethel Music. Daniel Mackenzie and Gabriel Wilson produced the album together.

<i>We Will Not Be Shaken (Live)</i> 2015 live album by Bethel Music

We Will Not Be Shaken (Live) is the tenth album from California based Bethel Music. The album was released through the group's label, Bethel Music, on January 26, 2015. The album was produced by Bobby Strand, Chris Greely, and Matthew Wilcox, and executively produced by Brian Johnson and Joel Taylor.

Steffany Dawn Gretzinger is an American music singer-songwriter and former ensemble vocalist with Bethel Music, based in Franklin, Tennessee. She released her first solo album, The Undoing, with Bethel Music in 2014. The album was a Billboard magazine breakthrough release, reaching number twenty on the Billboard 200, and also gained top five status among Top Christian and Independent albums in September 2014. Steffany is married to Stephen Gretzinger and they have a daughter, Wonder Grace, and a son, Wilder Justice.

<i>You Make Me Brave: Live at the Civic</i> 2014 live album by Bethel Music

You Make Me Brave: Live at the Civic marks the ninth album from Bethel Music, a worship group based out of Redding, California. The album was released through the group's imprint label, "Bethel Music", on April 21, 2014. The album was produced by Gabriel Wilson and Daniel MacKenzie, and executively produced by Brian Johnson and Joel Taylor.

<i>Have It All</i> (Bethel Music album) 2016 live album by Bethel Music

Have It All is the eighth live album and twelfth album overall by California based Bethel Music. It was released through the group's imprint label, Bethel Music, on March 11, 2016. It was produced by Chris Greely and Bobby Strand, and mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, NYC.

<i>The Loft Sessions</i> 2012 live album by Bethel Music

The Loft Sessions is the third album from California-based worship collective Bethel Music. The album was released on January 24, 2012 by Kingsway Music. Brian Johnson, Daniel James Mackenzie and Rick McDonald produced the album.

<i>Starlight</i> (Bethel Music album) 2017 live album by Bethel Music

Starlight is the ninth live album and thirteenth album overall by California-based worship collective Bethel Music. The album was released on April 7, 2017, by the group's imprint label, Bethel Music. Chris Greely and Ran Jackson worked on the production of the album.

<i>Be Lifted High</i> 2011 live album by Bethel Music

Be Lifted High is the second live album by California-based worship collective Bethel Music. The album was released on February 15, 2011 by Kingsway Music alongside the group's imprint label, Bethel Music. Jeremy Edwardson worked on the production of the album. The album was recorded live at Bethel Church in Redding, California and includes a DVD containing interviews about worship with Bethel Church pastors Bill Johnson and Kris Vallotton as well as Bethel Music artists such as Brian and Jenn Johnson, Jeremy Riddle and others.

Brian Mark Johnson is an American contemporary worship musician and worship pastor. He is the president and co-founder of Bethel Music, as well as a member of its Artist Collective and is one-half of the husband-and-wife worship duo, Brian & Jenn Johnson. He is also a senior worship pastor at Bethel Church in Redding, California, and a Senior Overseer of WorshipU, an online school of worship under Bethel Music, which he co-founded with Jenn Johnson.

The discography of Bethel Music, an American Christian worship collective based in Redding, California, comprises fourteen live albums, 3 studio albums, one extended play, one compilation album, four instrumental remix albums, ten singles as well as seventy-four music videos and sixty-five lyric videos.

<i>Blackout</i> (Steffany Gretzinger album) 2018 studio album by Steffany Gretzinger

Blackout is the second studio album from American singer-songwriter Steffany Gretzinger. It was released on March 30, 2018, through Bethel Music. Bobby Strand handled the production of the album.

<i>Moments: Mighty Sound</i> 2018 live album by Bethel Music

Moments: Mighty Sound is the tenth live album by California-based worship collective Bethel Music, it is also their fifteenth album overall. On May 11, 2018, the album was released by the collective's imprint label, Bethel Music.

<i>Victory</i> (Bethel Music album) 2019 live album by Bethel Music

Victory is the eleventh live album by California-based worship collective Bethel Music, and their sixteenth full-length release overall. The album was released on through the collective's imprint label, Bethel Music, on January 25, 2019. The album is inspired by the biblical account of King Jehoshaphat's victory over the Moabite alliance in war by sending out a group of worshipers as a vanguard for his army. The featured worship leaders on the album are Josh Baldwin, Cory Asbury, Jonathan David & Melissa Helser, Bethany Wohrle, Sean Feucht, Emmy Rose, Brian Johnson, Jenn Johnson, Kalley Heiligenthal, Paul McClure, Hannah McClure and Hunter G K Thompson with Molly Skaggs, Daniel Bashta and Harvest as guests. Ed Cash handled the production of the album.

<i>Bethel Music en Español</i> 2019 studio album by Bethel Music

Bethel Music en Español is the first album in Spanish by California-based worship collective Bethel Music, and their seventeenth album overall. The album was released on February 15, 2019, through its own imprint label, Bethel Music. The featured Bethel Music worship leaders on the album are Josh Baldwin, Cory Asbury, Jonathan David & Melissa Helser, Bethany Wohrle, Brian Johnson, Jenn Johnson, Kalley Heiligenthal, Paul McClure, Hunter G K Thompson and Steffany Gretzinger with guest appearances from Christine D'Clario, Edward Rivera, Raquel Vega and Marco Barrientos. Jose Olide and Paul Pineda handled the production of the album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">50th GMA Dove Awards</span>

The 50th Annual GMA Dove Awards presentation ceremony was held on Tuesday, October 15, 2019, at the Allen Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The ceremony recognized the accomplishments of musicians and other figures within the Christian music industry for the year 2019. The awards show aired on the Trinity Broadcasting Network on Sunday, October 20, 2019, at 8 p.m. ET.

<i>Peace</i> (Bethel Music album) 2020 studio album by Bethel Music

Peace is the second studio album by Bethel Music, and their nineteenth full-length overall. It was released on April 10, 2020, through its own imprint label, Bethel Music. The featured worship leaders on the album are Cory Asbury, Jonathan David & Melissa Helser, Josh Baldwin, Amanda Lindsey Cook, Brian Johnson, Jenn Johnson, with Kari Jobe and We The Kingdom appearing as guests. Ed Cash collaborated with and Steven Taylor in the production of the album.

<i>Forever Amen</i> 2020 studio album by Steffany Gretzinger

Forever Amen is the third studio album from American singer and songwriter Steffany Gretzinger. It was released on March 27, 2020, through Provident Label Group. The album features appearances by Chandler Moore, Matt Maher, Amanda Lindsey Cook and Wonder Grace Gretzinger. Jason Ingram handled the production of the album.

<i>Revivals in the Air</i> 2020 live album by Bethel Music

Revival's in the Air is the twelfth live album by California-based worship collective Bethel Music, and their twentieth full-length release overall. The album was released through the collective's imprint label, Bethel Music, on May 29, 2020. The featured worship leaders on the album are Brian Johnson, Jenn Johnson, Cory Asbury, Jonathan David & Melissa Helser, Josh Baldwin, Kristene DiMarco, Paul McClure, Hannah McClure, Brandon Lake, Bethany Wohrle, and Dante Bowe. Brian Johnson and Joel Taylor produced the album, working with assistant producers David Whitworth, John-Paul Gentile and Matthew Ogden.

<i>Homecoming</i> (Bethel Music album) 2021 live album by Bethel Music

Homecoming is the thirteenth live album by California-based worship collective Bethel Music. The album was released through the collective's imprint label, Bethel Music, on September 24, 2021. The featured worship leaders on the album are Cory Asbury, Zahriya Zachary, Jonathan David Helser, Melissa Helser, David Funk, Dante Bowe, Hannah McClure, Brandon Lake, Paul McClure, Brian Johnson, Jenn Johnson, Josh Baldwin, Emmy Rose, Kristene DiMarco, and Bethany Wohrle, with guest appearances from Gable Price, Gabe Jackson, Matt Redman, Naomi Raine and Chris Quilala.

<i>Faith of My Father</i> 2021 studio album by Steffany Gretzinger

Faith of My Father is the fourth studio album from American singer and songwriter Steffany Gretzinger. It was released on November 5, 2021, through TIM Records. The album features appearances by Melissa Helser and Cassie Campbell. Jason Ingram handled the production of the album.

References

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