Biography
Since the early 1980s, when Dove Award-winning gospel artist Brian Free joined Gold City Quartet, the prolific and widely recognized Southern gospel tenor has remained a leading figure in Christian music. He launched his own ensemble, Brian Free & Assurance, in 1993 and delivered its self-titled debut album the next year. The group swiftly collected honors from the Southern Gospel Music Association, including the Singing News Fan Award for Album of the Year for its 1996 release 4 God So Loved and Song of the Year for that album’s title track, while performing across the United States and Northern Ireland. Domestic touring continued alongside television appearances on TNN, CBS, and TBN, and in 1997 Assurance represented the National Quartet Convention on NBC’s Today show. The following year Free suspended quartet activities to obtain his ministerial license and ordination, although he still issued a self-titled solo album in 1999. Assurance reunited in 2001 for Lovin’ This Livin’ for the Lord, the same year Free released the solo project Call of the Cross. Further Assurance collaborations followed with So Close to Home, a set of regional hymns and praise songs, and Timeless Hymns & Classics, devoted to familiar hymns. The 2005 concert LP Live in New York City supplied the track “Long as I Got King Jesus,” which earned a 2006 Dove Award for Southern Gospel Performance of the Year. A second Dove Award arrived in 2014 for “Say Amen,” drawn from the studio album Unashamed. The group has stayed active on Christian music charts with subsequent releases that include Beyond Amazed in 2017, How Good Does Grace Feel in 2019, and Looks Like Jesus in 2021.
Albums
