tobyMac, Third Day, et Chris Tomlin

Born on 22 October 1964 in Fairfax, Virginia, TobyMac got his music start in 1987 when he formed a duo with Michael Tait called DC Talk, and together they released “Christian Rhymes to a Rhythm” in 1988. They then recruited Kevin Max Smith and the three of them released ”DC Talk” which reached gold status, followed shortly by “Free At Last.” The tour that followed was a huge success, eventually leading to worldwide success.

TobyMac then went on to pursue a solo career in 2001 with the release of “Momentum.” The record earned five Dove Awards and a Grammy Nomination. “Welcome To The Diverse City” followed the success of his first solo album in 2004, which peaked at number 54 on the Billboard 200 and sold over 20,000 copies. In 2007 he released “Portable Sounds” and it sold over 50,000 copies, followed by his first live album released in 2008 entitled “Alive and Transported.” TobyMac’s fourth studio album, “Tonight” released in 2010 was an equally huge success; specifically it earned him “Artist Of The Year” at the Dove Awards and a nomination for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album” Grammy. His fifth studio album entitled “Eye On It” was released in August 2012 and debuted at Number 1 on the Christian album charts.

It was 1992, that Mac Powell and Mark Lee were playing at Lee’s church, fortunately the same night that David Carr and Tai Anderson played with a band called Bullard Family Singers. After being introduced, realising their mutual interests, the four musicians formed a band. In 1993, whilst still in school, the band started playing more frequently around Atlanta and saved $3000 to record a full-length studio album which would be called “Contagious”. 1000 CDs and cassette copies of the recording were released. While playing in Marietta, Georgia at the Strand Theatre, the owners offered the band a contract to sign with a new independent record label called Gray Dot Records. With a recording contract to their names, the band release the album entitled “Third Day” which sold 20,000 units. Reunion Records bought out their Grey Dot contract and signed the band to a multi-album deal.

In 1998, the band began to work on their next album called “Time” which was produced by Monroe Jones. This album went on to be nominated for a Grammy Award and won a Dove Award. Having entered the studio with so many songs, they decided to make an EP called “Southern Tracks”, with some of the songs that didn’t make the cut. In the band’s live show, they had a worship section.

They embarked on a tour with Jennifer Knapp, and that same year they collaborated on a project “City on a Hill: Songs of Worship and Praise” along with FFH, Caedmon’s Call, Newsboy and Jars of Clay. Everything got bigger than they’d hoped, especially when they played in Australia and New Zealand in 2001. They held a concert at the Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheatre with an attendance of close to 15,000 people. That same year, the band won five Dove Awards as well as a Grammy. It was their following album that same year that the band released their 5th studio album “Come Together”, released on November 6th 2001, which won two Dove Awards and one more Grammy.

Their album “Wherever You Are” debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 8 and also earned the band their third Grammy award. They were also inducted into the Georgia Music Hall Of Fame on September 19th 2009. Their following studio album “Miracle” was released on November 6th 2012. It charted at #10 on the Billboard 200 chart, following the release, they embarked on a tour that started on February 21st 2013, in Fairfax Virginia, and ended on May 19th 2014 in Orlando, Florida.

His sound is Christian orientated, but his songs sound close to One Direction, Ed Sheeran - that slow uplifting X factor type music. Of course it's uplifting, the guy sings about how great God is!

'Worthy of all praise' Chris Tomlin continues to light the Christian torch with his moving music. He doesn't mess around with metaphorical nonsense, he says it how it is. 'How Great is Our God,' and 'Jesus Loves Me,' exemplify his no-nonsense lyrics and uplifting, mind-blowing music.

He created his first glorified piece of work in 1995 and it truly kick started his song writing juices. The ball was now well in motion. 13 albums later and the guys is still producing the best work out there in the Christian rock scenes. He has even recorded live albums of his work. Live albums really showcase an artist's passion and ability and Chris has at least 17 live albums in his discography.

A heart of an angel and a voice of a God, Chris Tomlin is music's answer to Jesus! And you can catch him on tour singing his spiritually centred songs. He must be knackered because he plays countless concerts year after year with the same amount of passion and delivery as his last. A wonderful man and a credit to Christians all over the world.