Sparrow Records is a

Christian music Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely aro ...

record label and a division of

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

History

Sparrow Records was founded in 1976 by Billy Ray Hearn, then

artists and repertoire Artists and repertoire (colloquially abbreviated to A&R) is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists (singers, instrumentalist ...

(A&R) director at Myrrh Records. Purchased by

Thorn EMI Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to: Botany * Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants * '' Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species Comics and literature * Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Com ...

in 1992, Sparrow's parent underwent a

demerger A demerger is a form of corporate restructuring in which the entity's business operations are segregated into one or more components. It is the converse of a merger or acquisition. A demerger can take place through a spin-off by distributed or ...

four years later to become the EMI Group, and the label is now part of the Capitol Christian Music Group. Sparrow Records rose to prominence with the signing of singer, songwriter, Contemporary Christian musician and minister

Keith Green Keith Gordon Green (October 21, 1953 – July 28, 1982) was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter in the contemporary Christian music genre, who was originally from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. His most notable songs are " There ...

. Within a year of his 1976 signing by Sparrow, Green was the top selling Christian artist in America. As of 2009, Sparrow's artists include Britt Nicole,

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 an ...

, Mandisa,

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 A ...

, Matthew West,

Steven Curtis Chapman Steven Curtis Chapman (born November 21, 1962) is an American contemporary Christian music singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, author, and social activist. Chapman began his career in the late 1980s as a songwriter and performer of conte ...

and

Switchfoot Switchfoot is an American rock music, rock band from San Diego, California. The band's members are Jon Foreman (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Foreman (bass guitar, backing vocals), Chad Butler (drum kit, drums, percussion), and Jerome Fontamillas (g ...

. Since 1996, a popular production of Sparrow Records has been the annual ''

WOW Hits "WOW" is a series of annual compilation albums featuring contemporary Christian music dating from 1995. Comprising songs submitted by each partner label, the annual ''WOW Hits'' releases are usually double CD sets. The series was officially cance ...

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 ...

series. In 1998, the WOW franchise then added the annual '' WOW Gospel'' series of albums. The '' WOW Worship'' series was introduced in 1999, an annual compilation of the greatest hits in

contemporary worship music Contemporary worship music (CWM), also known as praise and worship music, is a defined genre of Christian music used in contemporary worship. It has developed over the past 60 years and is stylistically similar to pop music. The songs are ...

Roster

* Riley Clemmons *

Jimi Cravity Maurice Eugene Willis (born December 4, 1984), who goes by the stage name Jimi Cravity, is an American Christian musician, who primarily plays a style Christian pop, EDM, R&B, and hip hop music. He has released two musical works, both being ex ...

* Crowder * Kristene DiMarco * Colton Dixon (with 19 Recordings) * Jon Foreman *

Amy Grant Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...

* Hillsong United * Hillsong Worship * Hillsong Young & Free * Mandisa *

Mosaic MSC Mosaic MSC is a contemporary worship music band from Mosaic Church in Los Angeles, California. The band is led by Worship Pastor Mariah McManus. The band have released three live albums and three extended plays. History Mosaic MSC recorded its ...

* Shawn McDonald * NF (with

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 ...

) * Britt Nicole (with

) * Christy Nockels * Nichole Nordeman * Passion * Rend Collective (with Rend Family Records) * Kristian Stanfill * The Young Escape *

We the Kingdom We the Kingdom is an American contemporary Christian music band signed to the Capitol Christian Music Group. The band consists of multiple generations of relatives: Andrew Bergthold, Ed Cash, Franni Rae Cash, Martin Cash, and Scott Cash. The ...

* Tauren Wells

Former

* 2nd Chapter of Acts (disbanded) *

Above the Golden State Above the Golden State was an American Christian rock band from Portland, Oregon. Their self-titled debut album, ''Above the Golden State'', was released on July 22, 2008 through Sparrow Records. The band's first single from the album was "Sound ...

Susan Ashton Susan Ashton (born Susan Rae Hill; July 17, 1967) is an American contemporary Christian music and country music artist who topped the Christian charts throughout the 1990s. In 1991 she began using her mother's maiden name, Ashton, when she reco ...

(active, unsigned) * Audrey Assad (active, independent) *

Avalon Avalon (; la, Insula Avallonis; cy, Ynys Afallon, Ynys Afallach; kw, Enys Avalow; literally meaning "the isle of fruit r appletrees"; also written ''Avallon'' or ''Avilion'' among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in th ...

(active, with Red Street Records) * Margaret Becker (active, with

Kingsway Music David C. Cook is an American nonprofit Christian publisher based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded as a provider of Sunday school curriculum and remains a major publisher of such materials. It also publishes fiction and nonfiction b ...

) * Bellarive * Dan Bremnes * Steve Camp (active, unsigned) *

Michael Card Michael Card (born April 11, 1957) is an American, Christian singer-songwriter, musician, author, and radio host from Franklin, Tennessee. He is best known for his contributions in contemporary Christian music, which combine folk-style melodi ...

(active, unsigned) * Marcos Vidal (active, unsigned) * Carman (deceased) *

(active, with

Reunion Records Reunion Records is a contemporary Christian record label based in Brentwood, Tennessee, that operates under the Provident Label Group. The label was founded in 1982, by Dan Harrell and Mike Blanton. History The label was formed by Amy Grant' ...

) * City Harbor * Daryl Coley (deceased) * David Crowder*Band (disbanded, had moved to sixstepsrecords) * Danyew *

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 vo ...

(disbanded) * Bethany Dillon (active) *

Dogs of Peace Dogs of Peace are an American Christian rock band from Nashville, Tennessee, and they started making music together in 1995. They have released two studio albums, ''Speak'' (1996) and ''Heel'' (2016). Background The band are session musicians fro ...

(active) * Earthsuit (disbanded) * The Elms (disbanded) *

Kirk Franklin Kirk Dewayne Franklin (born January 26, 1970) is an American songwriter, choir director, gospel singer, and rapper. He is best known for leading urban contemporary gospel ensembles such as The Family, God's Property, and One Nation Crew (1NC) ...

(active, with GospoCentric Records) * Peter Furler (active, independent) *

(deceased) * Steve Green (active, unsigned) *

Rickey Grundy Ricky R. Grundy (January 30, 1959 – July 27, 2015), who went by the stage name Rickey Grundy, was an American gospel musician and leader of The Rickey Grundy Chorale. He started his music career in 1988, with Sparrow Records releasing ''Spirit ...

, (active, independent) * Charlie Hall (active, with sixstepsrecords) *

Matt Hammitt Matt Hammitt (born October 19, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, speaker and author. He was the lead singer for Sanctus Real, which has released seven studio albums with Sparrow Records, toured internationally and released 14 top five ...

* Tramaine Hawkins *

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 bee ...

(active, with Survivor Records) * Kari Jobe (active, with Capitol Christian Music Group) *

Jump5 Jump5 was an American contemporary Christian music, Christian teen pop group active from 1999 until 2007. The group was made up of five members from Nashville: Brandon and Brittany Hargest, Chris Fedun, Lesley Moore and Libby Hodges. After Libb ...

(disbanded) *

Phil Keaggy Philip Tyler Keaggy (born March 23, 1951) is an American acoustic and electric guitarist and vocalist who has released more than 55 albums and contributed to many more recordings in both the contemporary Christian music and mainstream markets. H ...

(active) * Donald Lawrence *

Luminate Luminate may refer to: * Luminate (band), an American contemporary Christian music band * Luminate (company), a music sales data provider * Luminate Education Group Luminate Education Group (formerly Leeds City College Group) brings together a n ...

Barry McGuire Barry McGuire (born October 15, 1935) is an American singer-songwriter primarily known for his 1965 hit " Eve of Destruction". Later he would pioneer as a singer and songwriter of Contemporary Christian music. Early life McGuire was born in O ...

(active, unsigned) * Geoff Moore and the Distance (disbanded) * Michael W. Smith (active, with

Rocketown Records Rocketown Records was an independent record label which was started in 1996 by Michael W. Smith. In the fall of 1995, met with Don Donahue, A&R director at Reunion Records, to discuss creation of the label. In 1996, Word Records bought a minorit ...

) *

Needtobreathe Needtobreathe (stylized as NEEDTOBREATHE) is an American rock band from Seneca, South Carolina. The band is composed of Bear Rinehart (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Seth Bolt (backing vocals, bass), Josh Lovelace (backing vocals, keys), Randal ...

(active, with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most ...

) *

Newsboys Newsboys (sometimes stylised as newsboys) are a Christian rock band founded in 1985 in Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia, by Peter Furler and George Perdikis. Now based in Nashville, Tennessee, the band has released 17 studio albums, 6 of whi ...

(active, with Fair Trade Services) * Christy Nockels (active, with sixstepsrecords) * Out of the Grey (on hiatus) *

Twila Paris Twyla (also Twila) is a given name. Notable people with the name include: Twyla * Twyla Hansen (born 1949), American poet, a Nebraska State Poet * Twyla Herbert (1921–2009), American songwriter * Twyla King (1937-2022), American newspaper editor ...

(active, with

Koch Records MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch", formerly known as Koch Records and eOne Music) is a New York City-based independent record label and music management company. It was formed in 2009 from the music assets of Koch Entertainment, which had ...

) * Charlie Peacock (active, independent) * Marty Raybon *

(active, with Integrity Music) * Resurrection Band * Sanctus Real (active, with Fair Trade Services) * Sarah Reeves * Samestate * Robbie Seay Band (active, unsigned) * Something Like Silas * Soulfire Revolution *

Aaron Spiro According to Abrahamic religions, Aaron ''′aharon'', ar, هارون, Hārūn, Greek (Septuagint): Ἀαρών; often called Aaron the priest ()., group="note" ( or ; ''’Ahărōn'') was a prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of ...

(active, unsigned) * Kristian Stanfill (active, with sixstepsrecords) * Starfield (active, independent) *

(active, with lowercase people records) (Switchfoot still has a distribution agreement with Sparrow Records) * Russ Taff (active, with Springhouse Records) *

John Michael Talbot John Michael Talbot (born May 8, 1954) is an American Christian musician, author, television presenter and founder of a monastic community known as the Brothers and Sisters of Charity. Life and career Talbot was born into a Methodist family wi ...

(active, with Troubadour for the Lord) * Steve Taylor * Dave Thrush (active, independent) *

(active, with sixstepsrecords) * Michelle Tumes (active, with EMI CMG) * James Vincent * The Waiting (active, independent) * Sheila Walsh * Matthew Ward (active, independent) * Matthew West * Lisa Whelchel * White Heart * Josh Wilson (active on Black River Christian) * Deniece Williams (last worked, with Shanachie Records) * ZOEgirl (disbanded) * Danniebelle Hall (deceased) * West Angeles Church of God in Christ Mass Choir and Congregation ("Saints in Praise" series) * The Archers (musical group)

Compilations

* ''Firewind: A Contemporary Dramatic Musical'' (1976) * ''Christmas'' (1988) * '' Passion: Awakening'' (2010)

References

Sparrow projects

* WOW Worship Series

External links

Official site

EMI Christian Music Group
{{Authority control American record labels Record labels established in 1976 Universal Music Group Gospel music record labels 1976 establishments in Tennessee

History

Roster

Former

Compilations

See also

References

Sparrow projects

External links