Brian Courtney Wilson is an American
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
and
contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...
singer.
Biography
Wilson was raised in the
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
area. In his childhood, Wilson began singing with the adult male chorus with his father at the Rock of Ages Baptist Church in Maywood, Illinois.
Wilson enrolled at the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...
, where he also sang in the University of Illinois Black Chorus. He eventually graduated with a degree in
liberal arts and sciences, with an emphasis on
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...
. Wilson took a job as a pharmaceutical salesman, while he continued to sing in his free time.
After seven years, Wilson moved to
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, to work for
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...
. He started visiting Windsor Village United Methodist Church with a friend and became a
born-again Christian
Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sepa ...
. After some time, Wilson was invited to write music for their services, with some of his songs receiving airplay on local radio stations.
At some point, Wilson met Pastor Rudy Rasmus, who was looking for songs to pitch to friend and music entrepreneur
Mathew Knowles
Mathew Knowles (born January 9, 1952)Knowles in is an American record executive, businessman and university lecturer. He is best known for being the manager of Destiny's Child. He also once managed the solo careers of his daughters Beyoncé an ...
. After listening to Wilson's song "Already Here", Knowles signed Wilson to his record label Spirit Rising/Music World.
In 2009, Wilson released his debut album titled ''
Just Love
''Just Love'' (Traditional Chinese: 老婆大人) is a TVB modern drama series broadcast in May 2005. The drama was broadcast in Singapore's MediaCorp TV Channel 8 in 2007.
Play of family background, surrounded mainly scratching between husban ...
''. The album was produced by Stan Jones and features contributions by
Tommy Simms
Automatic Loveletter was an American rock band formed in Tampa, Florida, in 2005. The band consisted of vocalist and guitarist Juliet Simms, her older brother and lead guitarist Tommy Simms, and drummer Daniel Currier.
History
Automatic Lovel ...
. In 2010, the title song was nominated for a
Dove Award
A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awards ...
for Urban Recorded Song of the Year, while Wilson himself was nominated for New Artist of the Year at the
41st GMA Dove Awards
The 41st Annual GMA Dove Awards presentation was held on April 21, 2010 recognizing accomplishments of musicians for the year 2009. The show was held at The Opry Entertainment Complex in Nashville, Tennessee, and was hosted by Bart Millard.
Nomin ...
.Wilson's single "All I Need" also set a record for staying on the Top Gospel Songs chart for 89 weeks. Wilson re-released a deluxe edition of his album on October 5 of the same year, accompanied by a nationwide tour through several cities in the United States.
In 2012, Wilson undertook two projects simultaneously. First, he released the album "So Proud". According to amazon.com, Wilson recalls that "The inspiration for this project came three years ago when I penned "So Proud," the title song and the CD project's first single. The song is about remembering … remembering the reasons why you should keep going when the days seem the hardest...remembering your value when people cast you aside...remembering the people who did not give up on you when you feel like giving up on yourself...and most of all, it's about remembering that the reason we have so much to remember is because God has always been there to make a way through the people in our lives." The album debuted at No. 1 on the Top Gospel Albums charts, and the singles "So Proud" and "He Still Cares" made their way to radio.
It was also in 2012 that he united with Gospel legend
Fred Hammond
Frederick William Hammond (born December 27, 1960) is an American gospel singer, bass guitar player, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most popular figures in contemporary gospel music. He is known for using a variety of differe ...
,
Dave Hollister
David Le Chaine Hollister (born August 17, 1968) is an American R&B singer who found fame during the 1990s as one quarter of the R&B quartet Blackstreet, before going on to have a solo career. Hollister is best known for his 2000 gold-certifie ...
and R&B artist
Eric Roberson
Eric Roberson (born September 27, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, former rapper and music producer. He is sometimes referred to simply as Erro, the name which he later used as part of his label Blue Erro Soul. His first single, "Represen ...
to make the United Tenors project, which was released in 2013. Cited as the last addition to the group, it was clear once the production began ... that Wilson quickly left his fingerprints on the project. In 2015, Wilson signed with Motown Gospel. He later came out with the single "Worth Fighting For". This single became known worldwide. The single peaked at No. 3 on Top Gospel Songs chart. The song was nominated for Urban Recorded Song of the year at the 46th GMA Dove Awards, and he is also nominated for a Grammy for Song of the Year. Wilson also won Traditional Gospel Album of the Year for his album Worth Fighting For. This album debuted at No. 2 on the Top Gospel Albums chart.
In 2018 Brian Courtney Wilson released his hit single "A Great Work". This marked his fastest rising single to date, and reached number 1 on the Billboard Gospel Charts as well being nominated for multiple Grammy and Dove Awards for both the song and the album "A Great Work".
Acting
Wilson made his acting debut starring in the play ''I'm Only Human''.
Personal life
Wilson has two children
Discography
Albums
source:
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Brian Courtney Wilson Official MySpace page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Brian Courtney
American male singers
Living people
University of Illinois alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)