Noel Richards | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Noel Richards |
Born | Llantrisant, Wales | 16 February 1956
Origin | Cobham, England |
Genres | Contemporary worship music |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, Worship leader, Recording artist |
Instrument(s) | Guitar |
Years active | 1980–present |
Labels | Kingsway |
Website | www |
Noel Richards is a Welsh singer-songwriter, worship leader, and recording artist. He has composed several songs that are used in contemporary worship, by Christians today, including "All Heaven Declares", "By Your Side", "Restorer of My Soul (My Lips Shall Praise You)" and "You Laid Aside Your Majesty". [1]
Noel Richards is Welsh. He was born in Llantrisant near Cardiff. [2] When he was eight or nine years old, he became a Christian. He entered into a deeper sense of commitment to God at the age of fifteen, following which he began to look upon John Glass as a role model. John Glass was a young pastor who had just arrived at Richards' church from Bible college. Glass taught Richards to play the guitar, sing and to present himself. [2]
Glass introduced Richards to the contemporary Christian music of that time, in 1971. Richards attended his first Christian music concert at the Colston Hall, Bristol. The event called "It's Buzz" was hosted by Pete Meadows. One of the performers at the event was Graham Kendrick. While watching Kendrick perform at the event, Richards thought to himself that that was what he wanted to do. [2]
Following this event, Richards began singing at his own church. He also accompanied John Glass and other members of his own church when they set out on trips to other churches. On one of these trips, Glass introduced Richards to the man who was running the Youth for Christ operations in Bristol. This introduction became a turning point in Richards' life, as he became involved with evangelism before finally devoting his life to ministry. [2]
Richards was behind two major Christian music stadium events, one held at Wembley Stadium, London, England on June 28, 1997, and one held at the Berlin Olympic Stadium, Germany in July 2006. He also participated in a similar event in Budapest, Hungary during 2022.
Richards has been married to his wife, Tricia since 1978. She has sung on many of his songs with him, complementing his vocals. She has cowritten songs with him. They have two children together, Sam and Amy.
Noel Richards Band is the band with which Noel Richards records and performs at live events. The band has been playing since the late 1980s, though there have been numerous line-up changes. [3] Bradley Mason, the drummer, is currently the longest-serving member of the band, apart from Richards. He has been a part of the band since 1989. The current line-up of the band is:
This line-up of the Noel Richards Band recorded the 2004 album Road to Berlin. The band also frequently collaborates with several musicians, including (but not limited to) Matt Weeks (bass), Dave Eslick (Bass), Dan Crack (drums), Chris Stang (guitar), Christoph Bonnen (keys). The Noel Richards Band has performed in various types of venues in countries around the world. It has played in Brazil, United States, Canada, UK, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, South Africa and Finland. [3]
Noel Richards was responsible for the creation of and maintaining the online resource, www.worshipjournal.com. [4] Launched on 2 April 2008, WorshipJournal.com was a worship resource website which offered free resources for Christians, churches and worship leaders. The site provided a library of music, video, art, photography, poetry and teachings that were downloaded free of charge. The website closed during 2010 due to falling user numbers and competition from popular social networks. [5]
Richards has released several albums since 1986. [6]
The Hudson Taylors is a group of worship leaders Noel Richards, Wayne Drain and Brian Houston. The group have released two studio albums.
Delirious? were an English contemporary Christian band. For the majority of their career, the lineup featured Martin Smith on vocals and guitar, Stu G on guitar and backing vocals, Jon Thatcher on bass guitar, Tim Jupp on keys and piano, and Stew Smith on drums and percussion. During their final two years, drumming duties were assumed by Paul Evans.
Superchick, originally known as Superchic[k], was an American Christian rock/alternative pop band that debuted in 1999 and disbanded in 2013. Their music incorporated various styles such as pop, punk, rock, rap, and R&B. Their sound has been compared to mainstream artists like No Doubt and Avril Lavigne only with a heavier sound. Superchick has had five songs reach No. 1 on music charts, and their song "Stand in the Rain" held the No. 1 spot for nine weeks on R&R Christian Hit Radio (CHR) chart in 2006/2007.
Lincoln Brewster is an American contemporary Christian musician and worship pastor. As a guitarist, singer, and songwriter, Brewster became a sought-after session guitarist in the early 90s. Brewster is the former senior worship pastor at Bayside Church in Granite Bay, California.
Matthew James Redman is an English Christian worship leader, singer-songwriter and author. Redman has released 16 albums, written 8 books, and helped start three church-plants. He is best known for his two-time Grammy Award-winning single, "10,000 Reasons ". Co-written with Jonas Myrin, the single reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Christian Songs chart in 2012.
David Crowder Band was a six-piece Christian rock and modern worship band from Waco, Texas. Their final album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Christian and No. 2 on the Billboard 200 charts. They disbanded in 2012, with David Crowder pursuing a solo career under the name Crowder and the rest of the band, except for Mike Hogan, forming The Digital Age.
Martin W "Marty" Sampson is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician and former worship leader at the Hillsong Church in Sydney. From the late 1990s until 2019 he featured on the United Live albums and was one of the original Hillsong United band's worship leaders. Sampson's main instrument is the guitar although he also plays the piano, flute and drums. Aside from work for Youth Alive and Hillsong United, Sampson has issued solo albums.
Planetshakers is a contemporary worship music band, a central part of Planetshakers Church in Melbourne, Australia.
Joel Timothy Houston is an Australian musician, songwriter, pastor, and leader in the Sydney-based band Hillsong United, a worship band of Hillsong Church.
Hillsong United is a worship collective that originated as a part of Hillsong Church. Formed in 1998 as part of Hillsong's youth ministry, the band consists of several rotating worship leaders from the church, including Joel Houston, Taya Smith-Gaukrodger, Matt Crocker, Jonathon Douglass, Brooke Fraser, Jad Gillies and Benjamin Hastings. Due to several songs written by the youth ministry, Hillsong Worship leader Darlene Zschech recommended that they record an album, which resulted in their debut extended play, One, which was released alongside the Hillsong Worship album Touching Heaven Changing Earth. Since then, the group has released fourteen live albums, as well as five studio albums. The band composes songs and performs in church services as well as concerts on worldwide tours.
Sonicflood is an American contemporary worship music band from Nashville, Tennessee, that has been touted as "The Fathers of the Modern Worship Movement." The group took the name "Sonicflood", a reference to a line in the Book of Revelation, chapter 19, verse 6.
YFriday were a British Christian rock and worship band from Newcastle upon Tyne. From their beginning in 1994 until they split in 2010, they gained popularity amongst Christian music fans around the world, particularly in the United Kingdom. In 2010, YFriday announced that they were commencing their final months before disbanding later in the same year, after releasing a number of successful albums.
Paul Joseph Baloche is an American Christian music artist, worship leader, and singer-songwriter. A native of Maple Shade Township, New Jersey, Baloche was the worship pastor at Community Christian Fellowship in Lindale, Texas, for 26 years. He and his wife, Rita left Texas in January 2015, moving to New York City to be nearer to family. Baloche composes on piano and acoustic guitar, favoring guitar when leading worship. His wife, Rita Baloche, is also a Christian songwriter. Baloche is one of the writers for Compassionart, a charity founded by Martin Smith from Delirious?.
Leeland is a Christian rock band from Baytown, Texas. The band was formed in 2004, although lead singer Leeland Mooring had been writing songs beforehand. Leeland consists of Leeland Mooring, and Casey Moore. The band's original line-up included Jeremiah Wood (guitar), who left the band in late 2006 and was replaced by guitarist Matt Campbell in early 2007, Jack Mooring (piano), Mike Smith (drums) and Jake Holtz (bass).
Louise "Lou" Fellingham is an English Christian worship leader, singer and songwriter from Brighton in East Sussex, England. She is a founding member of the British band Phatfish and has also pursued a solo career. In 2008, she won a Christian Broadcasting Council (CBC) Award for her album Promised Land, in the category of Best Worship. She has worked alongside other Christian artists such as Matt Redman, Graham Kendrick, Tim Hughes and Stuart Townend. She regularly leads worship and performs at different venues around the world. A rendition of Fellingham leading the hymn "In Christ Alone" has had more than six million views on YouTube.
This Is Our God is the seventeenth album in the live praise and worship series of contemporary worship music by Hillsong Church. It was recorded live at the Acer Arena on 9 March 2008 by Reuben Morgan, Joel Houston, Darlene Zschech, and the Hillsong Live Worship team with a crowd of over 10,000 worshippers. The album opened at No. 2 on the ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart in Australia.
Tommy Walker is an American worship leader, composer of contemporary worship music, recording artist and author. Since 1990, he has been the worship leader at Christian Assembly, a church affiliated with the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel in Los Angeles, California. Some of Walker's most well-known songs are "Only A God Like You," "No Greater Love," "Mourning Into Dancing," "He Knows My Name," and "That's Why We Praise Him."
The Museum is a contemporary Christian music band from Georgia led by singer-songwriter, Ben Richter. Their debut national album Let Love Win, on BEC Recordings, was released July 27, 2010.
Empires is the fourth studio album from Australian contemporary worship music band Hillsong United, a worship band from Hillsong Church. The album was released on 26 May 2015, under Hillsong Music, Sparrow Records and Capitol Christian Music Group. Michael Guy Chislett served as the album's producer, with vocalist Joel Houston serving as creative director and co-producer. "Touch the Sky" was released as the album's lead single in March 2015. The album won the Worship Album of the Year at the 47th Dove Awards.
Vertical Worship, previously known as Vertical Church Band, is a contemporary Christian and worship band from Chicago, Illinois as part of the Harvest Bible Chapel. They are signed to Provident Label Group and have released seven albums through Essential Records: Live Worship from Vertical Church in 2012, Rock Won't Move in 2013, Church Songs on January 16, 2015, Frontiers on July 29, 2016, the self-titled album, Vertical Worship, in 2017, Bright Faith Bold Future on April 6, 2018, and Grace Is On Our Side on March 13, 2020.
Open Heaven / River Wild is the 24th live album of Hillsong Worship, which consists of several worship pastors from Australian church Hillsong Church. The album was recorded during the 2015 Hillsong Conference at the Sydney SuperDome from 29 June until 3 July 2015 and was released on 16 October 2015, under Hillsong Music, Sparrow Records and Capitol Christian Music Group; this marks the first time the church's annual worship album was recorded entirely during the conference, as opposed to the annual July releases that coincide with the event. Michael Guy Chislett oversaw production of the album, while Hillsong senior pastor Brian Houston and his son, worship leader Joel Houston, served as executive producers.