Brian Mark Johnson (born March 17, 1978) is an American

contemporary worship Contemporary worship is a form of Christian worship that emerged within Western evangelical Protestantism in the 20th century. It was originally confined to the charismatic movement, but is now found in a wide range of churches, including many w ...

musician and

worship pastor A worship pastor usually refers to a person who ministers using contemporary worship music or other Christian music, as well as counseling and pastoring members of the church's music team and worship ministries. This is a distinct role within a ...

. He is the president and co-founder of

Bethel Music Bethel Music is an American music label and worship movement from Redding, California, originating out of Bethel Church (Redding, California), Bethel Church where they started making music in 2001. Bethel Music has grown from being a local church ...

, 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 California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and a Senior Overseer of WorshipU, an online school of worship under Bethel Music which he co-founded with Jenn Johnson. As a solo musician, Johnson has released one album, ''Love Came Down - Live Acoustic Worship in the Studio'' (2010). As a part of Brian & Jenn Johnson, three live albums have been released: '' Undone'' (2001), '' We Believe'' (2006), the duo's first release to chart on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s

Christian Albums Top Christian Albums is a weekly chart published in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the best-performing Christian albums in the United States. Like the ''Billboard'' 200, the data is compiled by Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly ...

chart, and '' Where You Go I Go'' (2008). The duo has also released one studio album, '' After All These Years'' (2017), which charted on the US ''Billboard'' 200. As a founding member of

, Johnson has been featured on most Bethel Music releases. As a songwriter, Johnson has co-written CCLI Top 100 Chart ranking songs such as "Love Came Down", "

No Longer Slaves "No Longer Slaves" is a song by Bethel Music featuring Jonathan David & Melissa Helser and it was released on August 21, 2015, as Bethel Music's lead single from their seventh live album, '' We Will Not Be Shaken'' (2015). The song also appeared ...

", "Forever", and "One Thing Remains". Johnson has also worked as a producer of multiple Bethel Music, Jesus Culture, and Brian & Jenn Johnson releases, alongside various producers such as

Jeremy Edwardson Jeremy Edwardson (born March 25, 1979) is an American singer/songwriter, record producer, audio engineer, mixer, and former lead vocalist of the Seattle-based band, The Myriad. He owns and operates The Soundhouse recording studio in his hometown ...

and Ian McIntosh.

Early life

Brian Mark Johnson was born on March 17, 1978, to Bill Johnson and Brenda "Beni" Johnson in Redding,

. In the year of his birth, the Johnson family moved to

Weaverville, California Weaverville is a census-designated place and the county seat of Trinity County, California in the United States. Its population is 3,667 as of the 2020 census, up from 3,600 from the 2010 census. History Founded in 1850, Weaverville is a histori ...

, after Bethel Church, under the leadership of his grandfather, Earl Johnson, sent his father to pastor Mountain Chapel. He completed his high school education at

Trinity High School Trinity High School is the name of high schools: United Kingdom * Trinity High School, Renfrew, Renfrewshire, Scotland * Trinity High School, Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, Scotland * Trinity High School and Sixth Form Centre, in Redditch, England *Trini ...

in Weaverville. After seventeen years, the Johnsons moved back to Redding in 1996 when Bill and Beni Johnson assumed leadership of Bethel Church. Johnson has two siblings: an older brother, Eric Johnson, who is a pastor at Bethel Church, and a younger sister, Leah Valenzuela (née Johnson), who is also a member of the Bethel Music collective and one of the worship leaders at Bethel Church.

Ministry and music career

2000s

In 2000, Johnson and his wife, Jenn Johnson, were appointed as senior worship pastors at Bethel Church. As Brian & Jenn Johnson, they released their debut album, '' Undone'', in 2001, featuring Johnson's younger sister Leah Valenzuela. After a five-year hiatus, Brian & Jenn Johnson released their second live album, '' We Believe'' in 2006, which was co-produced by Johnson alongside

and Steven Tracy. '' We Believe'' also charted at No. 48 on the ''Billboard'' Christian Albums chart, making the album the first by the duo to register on the chart. On September 30, 2008, '' Where You Go I Go'', the duo's third album, was released via the label Ion Records.

2010s

In 2010, Bethel Music released '' Here Is Love'', its debut album on October 12, via its own label, Bethel Music alongside

Integrity Music Integrity Music is part of the David C Cook nonprofit group. Founded as a direct-to-consumer music club in 1987 as ''Integrity Music'', Integrity was at the forefront of contemporary worship music's widespread popularity of praise and worship mu ...

. Johnson featured on four tracks: "My Soul Sings", "What Does It Sound Like", "Worthy Is the Lamb" and "Here Is Love", which he sang alongside his wife, Jenn Johnson. Johnson made an appearance on Dave Fitzgerald's debut album, ''Hope of Heaven: Live at Bethel Church'', which was released on October 26, featuring on the song "Shine". Soon after Fitzgerald's release, ''Love Came Down - Live Acoustic Worship in the Studio'', Brian Johnson's debut live album, was released by record labels Bethel and Kingsway Music on November 9. ''Love Came Down'' was produced by

, and recorded at The Soundhouse, a studio owned by Jeremy Edwardson in Redding, California. In 2011, Brian Johnson featured on five tracks including "You Are Good", "One Thing Remains" and "What Would I Have Done" alongside Jenn Johnson on Bethel Music's second live album, ''

Be Lifted High ''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 pro ...

'', the first album by Bethel to register on ''Billboards Christian Albums Chart, peaking at No. 7. 2012 saw Bethel Music release two albums that Brian Johnson featured in and co-produced: '' The Loft Sessions'' and ''

For the Sake of the World ''For the Sake of the World'' is the fourth album from California-based worship collective Bethel Music. The album, produced by Brian Johnson, Ian McIntosh and Jeffrey Kunde, was released on 1 October 2012 by the collective's imprint label, Bethel ...

''. ''The Loft Sessions'', released on January 24, was produced by Johnson alongside Daniel James Mackenzie and Rick McDonald and was the first album by Bethel Music to register on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, peaking at No. 44. Johnson featured on three tracks: "One Thing Remains", "You Have Won Me" and "Angels". ''

'', released on October 1 via Bethel Music, with Johnson leading worship on five songs including "To Our God", "Forgiven" and the album title track, "For the Sake of the World". The album peaked at No. 51 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart for three weeks, concurrently ranking at No. 2 on the Christian Albums chart. The song "Love Came Down", co-written by Brian Johnson alongside Jeremy Riddle, Ian McIntosh and

, was featured on the twelfth season of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' as part of the "Songs I Wish I'd Written" night, with the performance of

Kari Jobe Kari Brooke Jobe (born April 6, 1981) is an American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter. Since her first album in 2009, she has received two Grammy Award nominations and ten Dove Award nominations, six of which she won. Biograp ...

's rendition as on '' Where I Find You'' done by the contestant Angie Miller, a top 3 finalist. In 2013, Bethel Music released its first studio album, ''

Tides Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables can ...

'', on September 3, with Johnson being featured in three songs: "Forever", "Strong in Us" and "For the Cross", which he sang alongside his wife, Jenn. ''Tides'' was the first album by Bethel to reach No. 1 on Billboard Christian Albums chart and also peaked at No. 30 on ''Billboard'' 200 chart, with nearly 15,000 copies sold as at September 11, 2013. He had an interview with Marcus Hathcock, editor-in-chief of NewReleaseToday, concerning the album and his life. ''Worship Leader'' ranked the song "Forever" from Bethel's 2013 studio album, ''

'', which featured his vocals as lead, at Number 10 on its Top 20 Worship Songs of 2013 list. Brian Johnson alongside

Jeremy Riddle Jeremy Michael Riddle (born October 18, 1977) is an American Christian musician, songwriter, and worship leader, best known for a long tenure as an ensemble leader with Bethel Music. Background Born in Mount Holly Township, New Jersey Jeremy ...

and Christa Black Gifford being nominated for two

GMA Dove Awards 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 ...

in the Song of the Year and Praise & Worship Song of the Year categories for writing the song, "One Thing Remains" in August 2013. In October 2013 at the 44th Annual GMA Dove Awards in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, Brian Johnson, together with his wife Jenn Johnson and

Kristian Stanfill Kristian Paul Stanfill (born April 9, 1983) is an American Christian music singer, songwriter and worship leader from Atlanta, Georgia. His 2011 album '' Mountains Move'' reached No. 64 on the ''Billboard'' 200. He is currently the worship pasto ...

as well as the Passion band performed the song "One Thing Remains". However, the two Dove Awards were won by

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 ...

for the song "10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)". The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (

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 ...

) awarded "One Thing Remains" the No. 1 song for ASCAP Christian Music as well as the No. 1 Radio Single in 2013. According to Renewing Worship, "One Thing Remains" was also ranked No. 22 in The Top 100 Worship Songs of 2013 from PraiseCharts list. '' Tides Live'', a live rendition of its successful studio release, was released by Bethel Music in February 2014, with Johnson performing the same songs as he did on ''Tides''. In December 2014, Bethel Music made announcements concerning the release of '' We Will Not Be Shaken'', their seventh live album, to be released on January 27, 2015. Brian Johnson was featured on two songs in the album, "We Will Not Be Shaken" and "Seas of Crimson", and also featured on the concert film, ''We Will Not Be Shaken'', as a worship leader, with the film having been recorded at a mountaintop overlooking

Shasta Lake Shasta Lake, also popularly known as Lake Shasta, is a reservoir in Shasta County, California, United States. It began to store water in 1944 due to the impounding of the Sacramento River by Shasta Dam, the ninth tallest dam in the United State ...

in California. With the concert film having been premiered on Facebook for free ahead of the album's release, the song "We Will Not Be Shaken" was one of two songs made available for download upon preorder and was the most sold recording in Christian & Gospel Songs, peaking at No. 28 on ''Billboard''s

Christian Songs Hot Christian Songs is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It ranks the popularity of Christian songs using the same methodology developed for the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the magazine's flagship songs ...

chart and at No. 32 on the ''Billboard''s Christian Digital Songs Sales chart as of February 14, 2015. 30,000 copies of the album were sold in its debut week, with an additional 24,794 singles being sold too, leading the album to the top of the ''Billboard''s

Chart and peaking at No. 12 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 while topping the UK's

Official Christian & Gospel Albums Chart The Official Christian & Gospel Albums Chart is a music chart based on sales of albums of Contemporary Christian and gospel music in the UK. It is compiled weekly by the Official Charts Company (OCC), with each week's number one being announced ...

. In August 2015, the

Gospel Music Association The Gospel Music Association (GMA) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1964 for the purpose of supporting and promoting the development of all forms of gospel music. As of 2011, there are about 4,000 members worldwide. The GMA's membership co ...

nominated Brian Johnson alongside

Gabriel Wilson Gabriel Solomon Wilson (born October 7, 1974) is an American record producer, Christian musician, multi-instrumentalist. Over the course of his music career, Wilson has produced and written on many projects including John Mark McMillan's ''Mercu ...

, Jenn Johnson, Christa Black Gifford and Joel Taylor for a GMA Dove Award in the "Worship Song of the Year" category for penning the song "Forever" (credited as "Forever (We Sing Hallelujah)"), with the result to be announced at the 46th Annual GMA Dove Awards in October. However, in October 2015, the award was won by

Matt Maher Matthew Guion Maher (born November 10, 1974) is a Canadian contemporary Christian music (CCM) artist, songwriter, and worship leader from Newfoundland, Canada, who lives in the United States. Three of his nine albums have reached the Top 25 ...

for the song "Because He Lives (Amen)". Bethel Music held its inaugural conference, ''Heaven Come Conference'', in May 2016 at the Microsoft Theatre in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

with Johnson as a speaker and worship leader at the event. The event was broadcast on

Daystar Television Network The Daystar Television Network (commonly referred to as Daystar Television, often shortened to Daystar) is an American evangelical Christian-based religious television network owned by the Word of God Fellowship, founded by Marcus Lamb in 1993. ...

. Brian Johnson also featured on Leeland's fifth studio album, ''

Invisible Invisibility is the state of an object that cannot be seen. An object in this state is said to be ''invisible'' (literally, "not visible"). The phenomenon is studied by physics and perceptual psychology. Since objects can be seen by light in ...

'', released in July 2016 having co-written and provided vocals for the song, "Son Was Lifted Up". In August 2016, the

announced the nominees of the 47th Annual GMA Dove Awards with Brian Johnson alongside Jonathan David Helser and Joel Case being nominated for writing the song, "

" in the "Worship Song of the Year" category. On October 11, 2016, the song won the GMA Dove Award at a ceremony held at the

Lipscomb University Lipscomb University is a private university in Nashville, Tennessee. It is affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The campus is located in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville, between Belmont Boulevard to the west and Granny White Pike o ...

Allen Arena Allen Arena is an List of indoor arenas, indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. The arena was named in honor of James C. and Linda Allen, the facility's primary benefactors. James Allen is a member of the board of trustees fo ...

, with

Jonathan David & Melissa Helser Jonathan David & Melissa Helser are an American Christian music husband and wife duo from Sophia, North Carolina, who started their music recording careers together in 2013. They have released three studio albums with Bethel Music, ''Endless Ocean ...

performing the song that night. On January 13, 2017, Brian & Jenn Johnson announced the release of '' After All These Years'', the duo's first album containing new songs in over a decade since the live LP release ''We Believe'' in 2006, was slated for January 27. ''After All These Years'' made its debut on ''Billboard''

chart at No. 1 with 16,000 equivalent album units sold as of February 8, 2017. The album also registered on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

at No. 21 and at No. 32 on the

Canadian Albums The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Monday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen SoundScan, and published every Tuesday by ''Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding i ...

chart. Brian Johnson had an interview with Sharefaith Magazine about the album and his worship ministry. Brian Johnson, together with Joel Taylor and Jenn Johnson, received a certificate of recognition from the Redding City Council as the founders and representatives of the record label,

, for its success at the 47th Annual GMA Dove Awards held in

in 2016, having won five awards from nine nominations.

Personal life

Brian Johnson married Jennifer Louise Johnson (née Rock) in 2000. The couple has two daughters, Haley and Téa, as well as one biological son, Braden, and one adopted son, Ryder, who was adopted in mid-2017. The family resides on a farm in Redding, California.

Discography

As a solo artist

As Brian & Jenn Johnson

As a featured artist

As personnel

Filmography

* ''We Will Not Be Shaken'' (2015) — as himself

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Brian Johnson's profile
on Bethel Church's website {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Brian 1978 births Living people 20th-century Christians 21st-century Christians 21st-century American singers American Charismatics American male singer-songwriters American performers of Christian music Composers of Christian music Christian music songwriters People from Redding, California Performers of contemporary worship music Singer-songwriters from California 21st-century American male singers