Hilary Weeks

An inspirational artist celebrated for conveying messages of faith and optimism, Hilary Weeks has cultivated a loyal audience both inside the broader Christian music scene and among members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly referred to as Mormons. Born Hilary Novakovich on March 7, 1970, in Colorado, she passed the majority of her early years in Anchorage, Alaska. Growing up in a musically inclined household, she took up the piano at age eight and composed her first song at fourteen. After earning a music degree from Brigham Young University in 1993, she issued her initial published composition that same year; the track “He Hears Me” was featured on the annual EFY album, a collection of uplifting songs linked to an LDS youth conference. While attending BYU she also wed Timothy Weeks and thereafter performed under the name Hilary Weeks.

Her EFY contribution later appeared on the 1996 debut album He Hears Me, issued by the LDS-connected label Deseret Book. The release quickly garnered praise in inspirational and LDS circles, earning the Faith Centered Music Association’s Inspirational Album of the Year designation and the LDS Booksellers Awards’ Best Album by a Female Artist honor. Lead Me Home, her second album, arrived in 1999 and brought FCMA Pearl Awards for Songwriter of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, and Album of the Year. The 2000 follow-up I Will Not Forget continued her momentum, and by the release of Day of Praise in 2004 she had signed with Shadow Mountain Records. That year she also became an author with Bedtime and Naptime...and Bedtime and Naptime: Survival Tips for Busy Moms, drawing on her experience as the mother of four daughters with Timothy.

Her first holiday collection, Christmastime, appeared in 2006, followed by the 2009 sequel Christmas Once Again. In 2008 she released If I Only Had Today. The 2011 album Every Step marked a breakthrough, reaching number six on the Christian Albums chart—the highest placement yet for an LDS artist—and number 102 on the Top 200 Albums chart. Subsequent projects mirrored this performance: Say Love climbed to number nine on the Christian chart in 2013, while Love Your Life reached number seven in 2016. Weeks also established the site billionclicks.org, where she urges women to generate and record uplifting thoughts with the goal of accumulating a billion clicks, each standing for a positive and encouraging idea.