Christopher Dwayne Tomlin (born May 4, 1972) is an American

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, songwriter, and worship leader from Grand Saline, Texas, who has sold over 7 million records. He is a member of

Passion Conferences Passion Conferences (also referred to as Passion and the 268 Generation, originally named Choice Ministries) is a Christian organization founded by Louie Giglio in 1997. The organization is known for its annual gatherings of young adults between ...

and is signed to EMI's sixstepsrecords. Some of his most well-known songs are "

How Great Is Our God "How Great Is Our God" is a song written by Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves and Ed Cash. It was originally featured on Tomlin's album ''Arriving'', that reached No. 1 on the '' Billboard'' Hot Christian Songs chart. It is also featured live on Tomlin' ...

", " Our God", "

Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies) "Whom Shall I Fear od of Angel Armies''" is a song by Christian contemporary Christian- modern worship musician Chris Tomlin from his seventh studio album, ''Burning Lights''. It was released in the United States on November 9, 2012, as the fir ...

" and "

Holy Forever "Holy Forever" is a song by American contemporary Christian musician Chris Tomlin. It impacted Christian radio in the United States on March 10, 2023, as the fourth single from Tomlin's fourteenth studio album, ''Always'' (2022). Tomlin co-wrote ...

". Tomlin has received 23 GMA Dove Awards, a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album for his 2012 album '' And If Our God Is for Us...'', and two

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

certified platinum albums. Because of his songs' popularity in many contemporary churches, '' Time'' magazine stated he may be the "most often sung artist anywhere". Tomlin's 2013 album '' Burning Lights'' debuted at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, becoming the fourth CCM album in history to do so.

Early life

Tomlin was born in Grand Saline, Texas in 1972 to Donna and Connie Tomlin. He has two younger brothers, Ryan and Cory. Tomlin was given his first guitar by his father and learned how to play along with Willie Nelson records. At the age of 13, he began singing at the Main Street

Baptist church Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

in Grand Saline. Tomlin wrote his first worship song at age fourteen. During high school, he learned to lead worship in his youth group. After graduating from Grand Saline High School in 1990, he entered

Tyler Junior College Tyler Junior College (TJC) is a public community college in Tyler, Texas. It is one of the largest community colleges in Texas, with an enrollment of more than 12,500 credit students each year with an additional 20,000 continuing education enroll ...

(TJC) planning for a medical or

physical therapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

career. Tomlin graduated in 1992 and enrolled in Texas A&M University to study medicine. He grew active in a campus Christian group called Breakaway, where he became the worship leader. In 1994, Tomlin graduated from Texas A&M with a bachelor's degree in psychology. After college Tomlin participated as a worship leader at various camps in Texas, including Dawson McAllister Youth Conferences. While at Breakaway, Tomlin participated in a Bible study led by Choice Ministries founder Louie Giglio. In 1997, Tomlin partnered with Giglio to found

Career

In 1995, Tomlin released ''Inside Your Love'', which was released independently. In 1998, he released ''Authentic'' on Sparrow Records. In 2000, Tomlin signed onto newly founded sixstepsrecords, a subsidiary of Passion Conferences. His first nationally released solo project, titled '' The Noise We Make'', was released in 2001, featuring the song "Forever". He released the live EP ''545'' and his second studio album '' Not to Us'' in 2002. Chris Tomlin

Since his signing onto sixstepsrecords, Tomlin has released nine full-length studio albums. 2004's '' Arriving'' was the first to chart on ''Billboard'''s Hot Christian Albums chart and the ''Billboard'' 200. Tomlin has topped the Hot Christian Albums chart six times, and his 2013 album '' Burning Lights'' topped the ''Billboard'' 200, making the album only the fourth contemporary Christian album to do so. Tomlin has also released one live album, recorded in Austin Music Hall, and two Christmas albums (2009, 2015), both of which topped the Holiday albums chart on ''Billboard''. Tomlin has toured with many contemporary Christian artists, such as Delirious?, Steven Curtis Chapman, Michael W. Smith, and MercyMe. Tomlin has headlined several tours, and has also joined Passion Conferences for national and global tours and events. Tomlin has also participated in various other conferences festivals including Grand Saline's annual Salt Festival in Texas, Hillsong's 2007 conference, and the SoCal Harvest in Anaheim. On June 14, 2007, Tomlin's version of the song "Indescribable" was used as the official wake-up call for Mission Specialist Patrick Forrester on Space Shuttle mission STS-117. Chris Tomlin left Sixstepsrecords in 2015 and quickly signed to

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

CMG and River Music Holdings in 2016

Other ventures

Tomlin is one of the members of CompassionArt, a charity and songwriting team that released an album in 2008. In 2014, he became a member on the board of directors of CURE International, a nonprofit organization that provides medical care to children in the

developing world A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

. In May 2008, Tomlin announced a move from the Austin Stone Community Church, to start a new church with Louie Giglio in Atlanta, Georgia. The Passion City Church held its first service on February 15, 2009, and features Tomlin as one of its worship leaders.

Holy Forever World Tour

The

world tour was announced on January 19, 2024 by Tomlin on his

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

The Holy Forever world tour is scheduled to start in April 2024 after Tomlin's Good Friday Nashville concert at Bridgestone Arena every year.

Personal life

Tomlin married Lauren Bricken on November 9, 2010. Together they have three daughters, Ashlyn, Madison and Elle. They live on a estate on the outskirts of Franklin, Tennessee, which they have named Peacefield.

Discography

Independent releases *''Inside Your Love'' (1995) *''Authentic'' (1998) *''Too Much Free Time'' (1998) ith Ross King Commercial releases *'' The Noise We Make'' (2001) *'' Not to Us'' (2002) *'' Arriving'' (2004) *'' See the Morning'' (2006) *'' Hello Love'' (2008) *'' And If Our God Is for Us...'' (2010) *'' Burning Lights'' (2013) *'' Love Ran Red'' (2014) *''

Never Lose Sight ''Never Lose Sight'' is the eleventh studio album from contemporary Christian music artist Chris Tomlin. It was released on October 21, 2016 through sixstepsrecords. Commercial performance ''Never Lose Sight'' debuted at No. 6 on the US ''Bill ...

'' (2016) *'' Holy Roar'' (2018) *''

Chris Tomlin & Friends ''Chris Tomlin & Friends'' is the thirteenth solo studio album by American contemporary Christian singer Chris Tomlin. The album was released via Sparrow Records and Capitol CMG on July 31, 2020. The album features guest appearances by Thomas ...

'' (2020) *''

Always Always may refer to: Film and television * ''Always'', a 1985 film directed by Henry Jaglom * ''Always'' (1989 film), a 1989 romantic comedy-drama directed by Steven Spielberg * ''Always'' (2011 film), a 2011 South Korean film, also known as '' ...

'' (2022)

Awards and achievements

According to Christian Copyright Licensing International's list of the top 25 worship songs in the US in August 2007, Tomlin held five spots with songs he has either written, co-written or performed: "How Great Is Our God" (No. 1), "Forever" (No. 5), "Holy Is the Lord" (No. 7), "We Fall Down" (No. 12), and "Indescribable" (No. 22) (written by

Laura Story Laura Mixon Story Elvington is an American contemporary Christian music singer-songwriter. ''Billboard'' ranked her as the 40th Top Christian Artist of the 2010s. She has won a Grammy and six GMA Dove Awards. Her second studio album, ''Bles ...

). In 2008, Tomlin held 6 spots on ''20 The Countdown Magazine'' top 20 praise and worship songs: "We Fall Down" (No. 14), "Forever" (No. 10), "Holy is the Lord" (No. 8), "Indescribable" (No. 6), "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)" (No. 3), and "How Great is our God" (No. 1). In 2012, CCLI reported that his songs were performed more than 3 million times in churches around the world. ''Time'' magazine has called him "most often sung artist anywhere" in 2006, and in 2013, he was also pronounced the most sung songwriter in the world. In 2017, he became only the fourth artist to receive the Sound Exchange Digital Radio Award for surpassing a billion digital radio streams, and in 2018, he became the first Christian artist to receive the Billionaire award from

Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek: , derived from , ''pān'', i.e. "all" and , ''dōron'', i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hes ...

for reaching a billion Pandora streams.

Grammy Awards

GMA Dove Awards

Throughout his career, Chris Tomlin has been nominated for 32 Dove Awards (6 of them collaborative efforts) and won 19 of them. * *Denotes a collaborative effort or a song contribution to a "Various artists" album. * ¹ The song was performed by Tomlin, but written and produced by

. * ² The song was performed by LaRue Howard, but written by Tomlin.

''Billboard'' Music Awards

Others

Tomlin was nominated for two 2009 Visionary Award: Male Entertainer of the Year and Song of the Year for "Jesus Messiah".

Bibliography

*Chris Tomlin, ''The Way I Was Made: Words and Music for an Unusual Life'', Multnomah, 2004.

Filmography

References

External links

* * Luscombe, Belinda (November 19, 2006)
"Hip Hymns Are Him"
''Time''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomlin, Chris 1972 births Living people 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singer-songwriters 20th-century evangelicals 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century evangelicals American evangelicals American male singer-songwriters American performers of Christian music Christian music songwriters Composers of Christian music Grammy Award winners Musicians from Austin, Texas People from Grand Saline, Texas Performers of contemporary worship music Singer-songwriters from Texas Sixstepsrecords artists Sparrow Records artists Texas A&M University alumni Tyler Junior College alumni