Matthew James Redman (born 14 February 1974) is an English Christian

worship leader 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 ...

, 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 The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-winning single, " 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)". Co-written with

Jonas Myrin Jonas Myrin is a Swedish singer, songwriter and producer based in Los Angeles, California. His solo career began in 2012 with the gold-certified song, "Day of the Battle" in Germany. Myrin won two Grammy Awards for the song " 10,000 Reasons (Bl ...

, the single reached No. 1 on the US ''

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 ...

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 in 2012.

Career

Christian church leadership

Redman was converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

at the age of 10 and attended the Anglican church of St Andrew's Chorleywood, in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. It was there he learned to play guitar, and at the age of 20, he began leading worship services and released his first album. In 1993, Redman helped found Soul Survivor, a global Christian movement and yearly music festival aimed at youth alongside his pastor

Mike Pilavachi Michael Pilavachi, (; born 7 March 1958) is a British charismatic Christian evangelist and author of Greek Cypriot descent. He is the co-founder and former leader of the Soul Survivor charity based in Watford, England. In May 2023, he was suspe ...

. From 1994 until 2002 Redman led worship services for Soul Survivor Church in Watford, England. In 2002, after a sabbatical in America to record ''

Where Angels Fear to Tread ''Where Angels Fear to Tread'' (1905) is a novel by E. M. Forster. The title comes from a line in Alexander Pope's ''An Essay on Criticism'': "For fools rush in where angels fear to tread". The BBC adapted the novel for television in 1966 as ...

'', Redman moved to

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

. In 2004 he and his wife joined a new

church plant Church planting is a term referring to the process (mostly in Protestant frameworks) that results in a new local Christian congregation being established. It should be distinguished from church development, where a new service, worship center or ...

, The Point, in

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

, led by pastor Will Kemp. In 2008, Redman, along with his wife Beth and their three children, moved to

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, to help plant Passion City Church with

Louie Giglio Louie Giglio (pronounced GIG-leo; born June 30, 1958) is an American Christian pastor. He is the leader of Passion City Church, located in Atlanta, Georgia. The founder of the Passion Movement, he is an author and public speaker. Biography Gigl ...

and

Chris Tomlin Christopher Dwayne Tomlin (born May 4, 1972) is an American contemporary Christian music singer, songwriter, and worship leader from Grand Saline, Texas, United States, who has sold over 7 million records. He is a member of Passion Conferences ...

. In August 2010, they returned to the UK with their children.

Music

Matt recorded his first album, '' Wake Up My Soul'', at ICC studios in January and February 1994. The album had an impressive line-up of Christian musicians including Iona's Mike Haughton, percussionist Martin Neil, Split Level's Adrian Thompson, Helen Burgess and Les Moir on bass, and was produced by

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 ...

. In 2002, Redman co-wrote with his wife Beth, the 2002

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 ...

-winning '' "'' Blessed Be Your Name''"'' (Worship Song of the Year) and the

-nominated '' "'' Our God." Since then, Matt and Beth have co-created some of Redman's most successful songs including, "You Never Let Go", "Face Down" and "Let My Words Be Few". Matt Redman and band 2018 (cropped)

In February 2011, Redman joined

, and Nathan and

Christy Nockels Christy Lynette Nockels (née Hill, born November 17, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter of contemporary Christian music. She was also one of the lead members of the band Watermark, along with her husband, Nathan Nockels. Biography and caree ...

at LIFT – A Worship Leader Collective where his 2011 live album, '' 10,000 Reasons'', was recorded. On 28 July 2012, " 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)", the title track of Redman's new album, topped the ''Billboard''

chart, where it stayed for 13 weeks. It was his first No. 1 hit on American Contemporary Christian radio. The single went on to win two Grammy Awards, for

Best Contemporary Christian Music Song The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the Contemporary ...

and Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance and was certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

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 ...

in 2018. Matt has also won thirteen Gospel Music Association's Dove Awards. The album's success came immediately after Matt Redman and LZ7, a

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

-based Christian rap and urban music group, released the song "

Twenty Seven Million "Twenty Seven Million" is a song released by English Christian worship leader, songwriter and author Matt Redman and English Christian electronic dance music group LZ7. The song was released in the United Kingdom as a digital download on 27 Feb ...

" on 27 February 2012, to raise awareness for the anti-

human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...

movement. The record, charted on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

reaching No. 12. Redman toured internationally with the band, to raise awareness for the cause through worship. Redman's songs have been covered by a number of

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 ...

(CCM) artists including

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 ...

Michael W. Smith Michael Whitaker Smith (born October 7, 1957) is an American musician who has charted in both contemporary Christian and mainstream charts. His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when " Place in This World" hit No. 6 on the '' ...

Jeremy Camp Jeremy Thomas Camp (born January 12, 1978) is an American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter from Lafayette, Indiana. He has released eleven albums, four of them RIAA-certified as Gold, and two live albums. Camp's original musi ...

, Rebecca St. James,

David Crowder Band David Crowder Band (stylized as David Crowder*Band and The 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 B ...

Tree63 Tree63 is a contemporary Christian music band from Durban, South Africa. History The band was formed in 1996 and originally, it was unnamed. In 1997, the band had to come up with a name before performing at North Beach, Durban, and came up w ...

Kutless Kutless is an American Christian rock band from Portland, Oregon formed in 1999. Since their formation, they have released multiple studio albums and one live album, ''Live from Portland''. They have sold over 3 million records worldwide. H ...

, Stellar Kart, and Hillsong United. He has regularly collaborates with other Christian musicians including Chris Tomlin 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 o ...

. In 2019, Redman announced he had signed with

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 ...

, with new music coming in late 2019, and a new album in 2020.

Writing

He has authored and edited multiple books on Christian worship, including ''The Unquenchable Worshipper'' and the book ''Facedown'' which accompanied the album of the same name. He and his wife co-wrote the book titled "Blessed Be Your Name" with the hopes to bring others to trust God and his goodness, no matter the circumstance.

Personal life

Redman was born and raised in Watford, England. The family had moved to a small commuter town named Chorleywood when he was around the age of two. His father died when he was just seven years old, and he and his brother were raised predominantly by his mother. His mother later remarried into an abusive relationship that took a great toll on the family. At the age of 10, he converted to Christianity after attending a mission service by

Luis Palau Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

at London's

QPR Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football, football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home ...

football stadium and was encouraged by Mike Pilavachi, an Anglican church youth leader to lead worship in his teens. He married Beth Redman, who is also a songwriter and author. The couple has five children.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Video albums and DVDs

*2004: '' Facedown'' (DVD)

Singles

Appearances

;Collaborations on Passion event albums *2000: "Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble?" on '' The Road to OneDay'' *2003: "O Come Let Us Adore Him" / "Come Let Us Return to the Lord" and "Blessed Be Your Name" on '' Sacred Revolution: Songs From OneDay 03'' *2004: "Father Let Me Dedicate" / "Here Is Love" on '' Passion: Hymns Ancient and Modern'' *2006: "You Never Let Go" on ''

Everything Glorious Passion, the Passion or the Passions may refer to: Emotion * Passion (emotion), a very strong feeling about a person or thing * Passions (philosophy), emotional states as used in philosophical discussions * Stoic passions, various forms of emoti ...

'' *2008: "God of Our Yesterdays" / "Shine" / "Dancing Generation" on '' God of This City'' *2010: "You Alone Can Rescue" on '' Passion: Awakening'' *2011: "Set Free" (jointly with Chris Tomlin) on '' Passion: Here for You'' *2012: "Lay Me Down" (jointly with Chris Tomlin) / " 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)" on '' Passion: White Flag'' *2013: "Jesus, Only Jesus" / "Shout" (jointly with Chris Tomlin) on '' Passion: Let the Future Begin'' *2014: "Mercy" / "Worthy" on '' Passion: Take It All'' ;Appearances on Passion Live and Passion compilation albums *2000: '' OneDay: Live'' *2005: ''How Great Is Our God'' *2006: ''The Best of Passion (So Far)'' *2007: ''Live from Passion 07 Pt. 2''

Awards

wins *

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

– " 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)" *2013: Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance – "10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)"

wins *2005: Worship Song of the Year: " Blessed Be Your Name" *2006: Praise and Worship Album of the Year: ''Blessed Be Your Name: The Songs of Matt Redman Vol. 1'' *2007: Children's Music Album of the Year: ''VeggieTales Worship Songs'' *2007: Special Event Album of the Year: ''Passion: Everything Glorious'' *2009: Special Event Album of the Year: ''Passion: God of This City'' *2011: Worship Song of the Year – TIE: "Our God" *2011: Special Event Album of the Year: ''Passion: Awakening'' *2013: Song of the Year: "10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)" *2013: Contemporary Christian Performance of the Year: "10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)" *2013: Songwriter of the Year Church of England *2016:

Cranmer Award for Worship The Lambeth Awards are awarded by the Archbishop of Canterbury. In addition to the Lambeth degrees, there are a number of non-academic awards. Before 2016, these awards consisted of the Lambeth Cross, the Canterbury Cross, and the Cross of St Augu ...

, "for his contribution to the worship life of the Church"

Published books

* ''The Unquenchable Worshipper'' (2001) * ''Where Angels Fear to Tread'' (2002) * ''The Heart of Worship Files'' (2003) * ''Facedown'' (2004) * ''Inside Out Worship'' (2005) * ''Blessed Be Your Name'' (with Beth Redman) (2005) * ''Mirror Ball'' (2011) * '' 10,000 Reasons: Stories of Faith, Hope, and Thankfulness Inspired by the Worship Anthem'' (with Craig Borlase) (2017)

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Redman, Matt 1974 births Living people English pop guitarists English male guitarists English evangelicals British performers of Christian music Christian music songwriters English songwriters Performers of contemporary Christian music Performers of contemporary worship music Grammy Award winners Sixstepsrecords artists People from Chorleywood 21st-century British guitarists 21st-century British male musicians British male songwriters