Jump to content

Chris Tomlin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Jrakee (talk | contribs) at 23:37, 9 July 2008 (→Biography). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Chris Tomlin

Christopher Dwayne Tomlin (born May 4 1972) is a Christian worship leader and songwriter from Grand Saline, Texas, United States. He is a staff member at Austin Stone Community Church and is signed to EMI's sixstepsrecords. Tomlin also leads worship at many Passion events. Some of his most well-known songs are "How Great Is Our God", "Indescribable", "Forever", "Famous One", "We Fall Down", and "Holy Is the Lord".

According to the Christian Copyright Licensing International, Tomlin is the most sung Christian artist in the United States.[1] He was awarded Male Vocalist at the 2006 and 2007 Gospel Music Awards, and was named Artist of the Year in 2007 and 2008.

Biography

Tomlin was born in Grand Saline in 1972 to Connie and Donna Tomlin. He has two younger brothers, Ryan and Cory. Tomlin received his first guitar from his father, Connie, at the age of eleven after contracting a case of mono[2]. Then, Tomlin wrote his first worship song at age fourteen. He entered college planning to study medicine, but he stated that he felt God's calling to something else and did not pursue that career.

In the mid-1990s Tomlin spent time leading worship at the Dawson McAllister Youth Conferences, as well as at various camps around the state of Texas.

Following college, at Texas A&M University Tomlin continued to play and write songs, and in 1997, Louie Giglio asked if he would be interested in working with the Passion Conferences. Tomlin agreed, and he has played a key role ever since. His first nationally released solo project, entitled The Noise We Make, was released in 2001, which saw the emergence of songs "Forever" (his most famous song other than "How Great Is Our God"), "Be Glorified", and "Kindness", all of which made the top 200 in the CCLI 2005 top 500 worship songs[3]. Since then, he has released many more studio albums, most notably Arriving, which is considered his breakout album, since it produced four number one hits ("Indescribable" (written by Laura Story), "Holy Is the Lord," "How Great Is Our God," and "The Way I Was Made"), and two other songs ("On Our Side" and "Mighty is the Power of the Cross", written with Shawn Craig of Phillips, Craig, and Dean) which landed in the 2005 top five hundred worship songs according to Christian Copyright Licensing International.[3] Just one year after Arriving, Tomlin released his first solo live album, titled Live From Austin Music Hall, and in 2006, he released his fourth sudio album, See the Morning. This album has enjoyed great success, for it has been nominated for two Grammy Awards [4], been certified Gold by the RIAA [5], and has helped him win 6 Dove Awards in 2007, including a second consecutive "Artist of the Year" win[1]. The three singles off this album have all been top #5 songs on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs Chart, and have all reached the number one position on the Radio & Records's Christian AC Chart. Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

According to Christian Copyright Licensing International's list of the top 25 worship songs in the United States as of August 2007, Tomlin held 5 spots with songs he has either written or co-written with other songwriters: "How Great Is Our God" (#1), "Forever" (#5), "Holy Is the Lord" (#7), "We Fall Down" (#12),and "Indescribable" (#22).[6]

Tomlin has toured with several prominent acts in the Christian Contemporary Music, such as touring as a support act of Delirious? during his first ever tour,[7] and as a support act of Steven Curtis Chapman during his All Things New Tour[8]. Tomlin has also headlined several tours, such as headlining the Chris Tomlin Indescribable Tour, which featured world renowned worship artist Matt Redman, and prominent speaker Louie Giglio[9], and headlining the See the Morning Tour. From April to October of 2007, Tomlin toured with Louie Giglio and Matt Redman on his "How Great Is Our God" tour.[3] Currently, Tomlin is touring with the rest of his fellow Passion workers as they are currently embarking on their world tour. [3]

On December 12, 2006, Tomlin launched a online music website resource called Frequency [3]which Tomlin described as "A place to serve God and his people in worship." [10] This site also features articles by many other acts in the Christian Contemporary Music world, such as Matt Maher and Robbie Seay

On May 31, 2007, Chris Tomlin returned home to Grand Saline, Texas, to play a free show during their annual Salt Festival.[3]

On June 14, 2007, Tomlin's version of the song "Indescribable" (written by Laura Story) was used as the official wake-up call for Mission Specialist Patrick Forrester on Space Shuttle mission STS-117.

In July 2007, Tomlin joined Hillsong to open the conference with his song Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone).

On January 7-11 2008, Tomlin participated in the Compassionart International Songwriting retreat, a retreat, which was dedicated to writing songs whose revenues will go to the poorest of the poor. Other prominent Christian songwriters that went included Matt Redman, Martin Smith, Stuart Garrard, and Steven Curtis Chapman. [11]

In March 2008, Tomlin and his band began recording a new studio record, Hello Love, set to release in September of 2008. The album will include the songs "Sing, Sing, Sing," "Jesus Messiah", "Love," [12] "God of This City," and "I Will Rise."[13]

In May 2008, it was announced that Tomlin and his band would be leaving the church he helped plant with senior pastor Matt Carter in Austin, Texas; The Austin Stone Community Church. He'd be leaving in order to start a new church with Passions Conference speaker, Louie Giglio in Atlanta, Georgia. [14]

On June 13, 2008, Tomlin released the first single off the album Hello Love, entitled "Jesus Messiah", which managed to reach the #1 position on the Itunes Christian and Gospel chart, along with being the most added song on Christian AC, Christian Hit Radio, and Christian Inspirational Radio during its first week. Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

2007

  • Artist of the Year[15]
  • Male Vocalist of the Year
  • Worship Song of the Year for "Holy Is the Lord"
  • Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year for See the Morning
  • Special Event Album of the Year for Passion: Everything Glorious
  • Praise & Worship Album of the Year for See the Morning

2008

Nominations:

  • Song of the Year for "Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)" [16]
  • Male Vocalist of the Year
  • Artist of the Year
  • Worship Song of the Year for "Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)"
  • Worship Song of the Year for "How Great is our God"
  • Special Event Album of the Year for Music Inspired by the Motion Picture Amazing Grace

Awards:

  • Male Vocalist of the Year [17]
  • Worship Song of the Year for "How Great is our God"

Bibliography

  • Chris Tomlin, The Way I Was Made: Words and Music for an Unusual Life, Multnomah, 2004. ISBN 978-1590523278

References

  1. ^ a b Associated Press. Chris Tomlin wins at Dove Awards April 26, 2007. Retrieved April 26, 2007.
  2. ^ Tyler Paper, "Superstar's homecoming brings memories, praise"
  3. ^ a b c d e f Chris Tomlin's official Site
  4. ^ Chris Tomlin's Biography at Billboard.com
  5. ^ Tomlin's See the Morning certified Gold by the RIAA
  6. ^ CCLI Top 25 Worship Songs List
  7. ^ Delirious? Bio
  8. ^ Arriving E-Card
  9. ^ Chris Tomlin Indescribable Tour poster
  10. ^ Worship Frequency Official Site
  11. ^ Compassionart News Release
  12. ^ Ed Cash's Blog
  13. ^ Chris Tomlin Releases Fifth Studio Album Hello Love
  14. ^ Human3rror Blog
  15. ^ 2007 GMA Dove Awards winners list, Retrieved April 27 2007
  16. ^ EMI CHRISTIAN MUSIC GROUP ARTISTS, WRITERS, DISTRIBUTED LABELS RECOGNIZED WITH RECORD NUMBER 76 DOVE AWARD NOMINATIONS
  17. ^ Dove Awards 2008
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Chris_Tomlin&oldid=224686568"