Elevation Worship operates as a contemporary Christian worship ministry tied to Elevation Church in North Carolina. From the late 2000s onward, the ensemble has issued multiple successful albums blending pop and rock foundations with the expansive cinematic quality of classical music. Renowned above all for fervent live recordings, the collective first reached the summit of the Christian charts via the 2012 release Nothing Is Wasted, an achievement duplicated three additional times during that decade; the group simultaneously established a consistent presence on the pop charts through projects such as the gold-certified 2015 album Here as in Heaven and the 2018 Grammy-nominated effort Hallelujah Here Below. Powered by platinum-certified singles including “O Come to the Altar” and “Do It Again,” the ensemble cultivated an expansive and loyal following that propelled Graves into Gardens to the top of Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart upon its 2020 arrival. A further Grammy nomination arrived with the 2022 album Lion, after which two successive number-one releases followed in the form of 2023’s Can You Imagine? and 2024’s When Wind Meets Fire.
The collective originated as the musical extension of Elevation Church, a multi-site congregation established in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2006 by pastor Steven Furtick. Its initial configuration centered on Chris Brown, Mack Brock, and Wade Joye, each of whom contributed vocals and guitar while Furtick participated in songwriting. Although an evolving roster of instrumentalists supported the group, Brown and Brock emerged as primary on-stage focal points, with additional vocalists featured over time, among them Jenna Barrientes, Jonsal Barrientes, London Gatch, Anna Sailors, and Jane Williams.
The ministry’s first album, the live recording Live Worship, appeared in 2006 on the church’s own label; three further independent projects followed—2007’s The Sound, 2008’s We Are Alive, and 2010’s Kingdom Come. The last of these marked a commercial breakthrough, becoming the first Elevation Worship release to register on national charts by reaching number 17 on the Christian survey and number 42 on the independent chart. Positive reception for Kingdom Come prompted the five-song EP Kingdom Come Remix, which offered extended renditions of selections from the full-length project.
A subsequent agreement with Essential Records, a Christian imprint distributed by Sony Music, yielded the 2011 album For the Honor as the group’s initial output on the new label; that set climbed to number 19 on the Christian album charts. The follow-up, 2012’s Nothing Is Wasted, became the first Elevation Worship title to attain the number-one position on the Christian survey. Strong support from both critics and listeners greeted 2013’s Here in Heaven and 2014’s Only King Forever, while Wake Up the Wonder, also released in 2014, marked the collective’s second Christian chart-topper.
Here as in Heaven, issued in 2016, was captured during a Charlotte worship event attended by a capacity crowd of 16,000; one track, “O Come to the Altar,” appeared as a single that reached number two on the Christian Singles charts and earned gold certification. This project represented the first Elevation Worship album released through the newly formed Elevation Worship label in affiliation with Provident Distribution. Another live document, There Is a Cloud, surfaced in March 2017, securing a third number-one Christian placement while also peaking at number 11 on the Billboard 200; the album generated the Christian hit single “Do It Again.” Five months later the group issued its first Spanish-language project, Lo Harás Otra Vez.
Personnel shifts occurred in 2017 when longtime members Mack Brock and London Gatch withdrew from active participation. Momentum nevertheless continued, as Hallelujah Here Below arrived in September 2018 and delivered two Top 30 Christian singles—“Here Again” and “Won’t Stop Now”—while earning a Grammy nomination for Best Christian Album. The five-song live EP At Midnight followed in mid-2019, accompanied by the live album Paradoxology. Graves into Gardens, the group’s twelfth concert recording, appeared in 2020; featuring Brandon Lake of Bethel Music, the set debuted inside the Top 40 of the Billboard 200. In January 2021 Elevation Worship supplied a companion project titled Graves into Gardens: Morning & Evening, containing reworked material and new selections. Later that year the live collaborative album Old Church Basement, recorded with Maverick City Music, was released.
The Grammy-nominated Lion, issued in March 2022, showcased worship leaders Chris Brown, Jonsal Barrientes, Brandon Lake, Pat Barrett, Tiffany Hudson, Joe L. Barnes, and Chandler Moore. Can You Imagine?, the collective’s fifteenth album, arrived in 2023, once again claiming the top spot on the Christian chart while also entering the Billboard 200. Continuing their rapid pace, the group returned one year later with the uplifting When Wind Meets Fire, adding another number-one entry to an already extensive catalog.
