YFriday were a British

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus, typically performed by self-proclaimed Christian individuals. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Ch ...

and

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition ...

band from

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. From their beginning in 1994 until they split in 2010, they gained popularity amongst

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

music fans around the world, particularly in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. 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.

History

The group was formed in 1994, originally as the house band for a monthly evangelistic outreach event run by

Youth for Christ Youth For Christ (YFC) is a worldwide Christian movement working with young people, whose main purpose is evangelism among teenagers. It began informally in New York City in 1940, when Jack Wyrtzen held evangelical Protestant rallies for teenagers ...

called WhyFriday?. The WhyFriday? outreach programme initially had a regular attendance of about 50–60 young people, but this steadily grew and the event, later called IXth Hour, was held at the

Newcastle City Hall The Newcastle City Hall (currently known as O2 City Hall Newcastle for sponsorship reasons) is a concert hall located in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has hosted many popular music and classical artists throughout the years, as well as stan ...

for a number of years. At its peak, IXth Hour had around 800 attendees each month and the band still performed there regularly until their split. Following the 1999 release of the ''Rainmaker'' album, the band were approached by Kingsway with an offer of a 3-year recording contract. Bassist Danny Smith joined the band in 2001, in time for the ''Open'' album. It was at this time that the band members made the decision to leave their jobs to work together full-time. They also released an EP in 2003. From 2007 until 2010, the band supported the event ''Chesterfest'', playing a number of gigs and performing at their "Funday on a Sunday". In February 2010, YFriday also performed alongside the worship team from Abundant Life Church, Blush and Kev Whitmore at the "Heart for Haiti" concert supporting the NXT ministries projects in Port-au-Prince after the January 2010 earthquake. The band played at the first Big Church Day out in 2009. YFriday played their final concert as a band in a sold out Newcastle City Hall on 31 October 2010.

Band members

Band membership has changed slightly since the original formation.

Ken Riley

Riley was the lead singer and guitarist of YFriday. He is a prolific songwriter and has collaborated with a number of other Christian songwriters including

Matt Redman Matthew James Redman (born 14 February 1974) 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 Aw ...

Martin Smith Martin Smith may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Martin Seymour-Smith (1928–1998), British poet, literary critic, biographer and astrologer *Martin Cruz Smith (born 1942), American writer * Martin Smith (drummer) (1946–1997), British drummer ...

(

Delirious? Delirious? (formerly known as The Cutting Edge Band) were an English contemporary Christian band. For the majority of their career, the lineup featured Martin Smith on vocals and guitar, Stu G (full name Stuart Garrard) on guitar and backing v ...

) and

Tim Hughes Timothy David Llewelyn Hughes (born 23 July 1977) is a British worship leader, singer, songwriter, and Anglican priest. Formerly the director of worship at Holy Trinity Brompton, a large Anglican church in central London, he has since been ...

. His most globally recognised song "Everlasting God", co-written with

Brenton Brown Brenton Gifford Brown Work ID No. 884337863 ISWC No. T9126089325 (born 1 July 1973) is a dual South African and American Christian musician and worship leader. The title track "Everlasting God" on his solo album, ''Everlasting God'' was given a ...

, received an

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

Award in 2008 and 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 ...

. He co-produced the YFriday album, ''Great and Glorious'', with Sam Gibson (Crowded House, Hillsong United) and, in 2010, produced the album ''Supreme'' for the band The Steels, following their signing to Kingsway/EMI. Riley is married to Amanda and has three children. After leaving the band he was appointed Director of Worship at City Church Newcastle and, in 2013, released his first solo EP, ''Wondrous Things''.

Dez Minto

Minto, the band's drummer, also founded Broadwater Studios, a recording studio in

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

, and Minto Music, an audio-visual and lighting hire company with bases in Gateshead and

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

. He is married to Rachael and is a father of two. After the band split, the family relocated to

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

where he is the Worship Leader at Rediscover Church (an

Elim Pentecostal Church The Elim Pentecostal Church is a UK-based Pentecostal Christian denomination. History George Jeffreys (1889–1962), a Welshman, founded the ''Elim Pentecostal Church'' in Monaghan, Ireland in 1915. Jeffreys was an evangelist with a Welsh Co ...

Danny Smith

Smith joined the band as bassist in 2001 as they signed their first professional record contract. A member of an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church in

South Tyneside South Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, North East England. It is bordered by all four other boroughs in Tyne and Wear – Gateshead to the west, Sunderland in the south, North Tyneside to the no ...

, where he is part of the worship band and helps with the youth work, Smith also teaches guitar. Smith married Ruth. They have two children.

Gav Richards

Keyboards and second guitar player and backing vocalist, Richards was born and grew up in Hartlepool. He is part of the worship and production teams at

Hillsong Church Hillsong Church, commonly known as Hillsong, is a global Evangelical charismatic movement, charismatic Christian megachurch based in Australia. The original church was established in 1983 as Hills Christian Life Centre, in Baulkham Hills, New ...

's Newcastle campus. After the band split, he worked as a sound engineer and producer for Broadwater Studios. He is now married.

Discography

Albums

* '' Rainmaker'' (June 1999) * ''

Open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001 * ''Open'' (YF ...

'' (2001) * ''

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

'' (September 2003) * ''

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

'' (April 2006) * ''

The Universal Broadcast ''The Universal Broadcast'' is the first live CD and DVD from the Newcastle-based English Christian Rock band YFriday YFriday were a British Christian rock and worship band from Newcastle upon Tyne. From their beginning in 1994 until they ...

'' (March 2008) * '' Great & Glorious'' (April 2009) * '' Everlasting God: The Best of yFriday'' (August 2010)

EP

* '' Why Friday?'' (199?) – Very rare Audio Cassette Featuring 'Tear Down the Walls' among others. * '' Songs of Heaven'' (2003)

Gallery

File:Yfriday01.motherwell.250206.jpg, Yfriday live in Motherwell File:Yfriday02.motherwell.250206.jpg, Yfriday live in Motherwell File:Yfriday03.motherwell.250206.jpg, Yfriday live in Motherwell