Biography
Hillsong operates as a Christian rock and worship ensemble tied to Australia's Hillsong Church, the Pentecostal ministry headquartered in northwest Sydney. From the early 1990s onward, entities such as Hillsong Worship, Hillsong United, and Hillsong Young & Free have issued material under the shared Hillsong name, achieving broad international reach through numerous releases that originated at church gatherings including the Hillsong Conference and Encounterfest. Following the point when Hillsong albums first reached the top of Australia's mainstream pop charts during the mid-2000s, the ministry opened additional sites and affiliated congregations internationally. During the 2010s, Hillsong established a substantial U.S. footprint as Zion (2013) and Let There Be Light (2016) ascended to number one on the Billboard Christian charts while also securing strong positions on the pop rankings.
Brian and Bobbie Houston, both originally from New Zealand, established the congregation in August 1983 under the name Hills Christian Life Centre. The initial group of 45 members expanded to 900 within four years. In 1986 the Houstons launched the Hillsong Conference, an annual gathering designed to instruct and support contemporary Christian musicians. The first retail release appeared in 1992 as the live album The Power of Your Love, credited to Hillsong Live (subsequently rebranded Hillsong Worship) and featuring principal contributors Geoff Bullock and Darlene Zschech, who remained central to later Hillsong projects. By 1999 the Houstons had changed the church's name to Hillsong in recognition of the brand's prominence. Even after multiple controversies drew attention to the ministry's political positions, the organization maintained momentum, and the 2004 live Hillsong Worship album For All You've Done reached the summit of Australia's pop charts. Attendance at the July 2005 Hillsong Conference surpassed 30,000, and by early 2006 weekly services drew more than 19,000 participants.
Although the Hillsong Worship series issues an annual recording drawn from the conference, the parallel Hillsong United series originated as the church's youth-ministry ensemble. First known as United Live and initially fronted by Reuben Morgan and Marty Sampson, the group released its debut Everyday in 1999. Each subsequent album was captured live at the October youth event Encounterfest, incorporating input from assorted church members, associates, and supporters such as Christian folk performer Brooke Fraser, before appearing on CD and DVD the next year. After Morgan departed in 2002 to pursue solo work, Joel Houston assumed leadership and the ensemble adopted the Hillsong United name. Its profile rose steadily in both hemispheres, with United We Stand becoming Canada's top-selling Christian album of 2006. All of the Above replicated that level of success in 2007, as did a_CROSS//the_EARTH: Tear Down the Walls and the companion live set Faith + Hope + Love in 2009.
As the church added further international locations during the 2010s, its musical output continued to grow, with the principal series often listed simply as Hillsong on packaging. Additional ongoing projects under the Hillsong umbrella include Hillsong Chapel and Hillsong Young & Free. While already established in Australia, the ministry gained comparable traction in the United States, where God Is Able (2010), Zion (2013), No Other Name (2014), Open Heaven/River Wild (2015), and Let There Be Light (2016) each led the Billboard Christian charts and typically placed high on the pop listings as well. In 2017 the collective issued the six-track EP What a Beautiful Name, whose title track featured Brooke Ligertwood, along with the holiday collection Christmas: The Peace Project. There Is More arrived the following year, and early 2019 brought the second compilation The Very Best of Hillsong, Vol. 2, which drew from every Hillsong division including Young & Free and United.
Brian and Bobbie Houston, both originally from New Zealand, established the congregation in August 1983 under the name Hills Christian Life Centre. The initial group of 45 members expanded to 900 within four years. In 1986 the Houstons launched the Hillsong Conference, an annual gathering designed to instruct and support contemporary Christian musicians. The first retail release appeared in 1992 as the live album The Power of Your Love, credited to Hillsong Live (subsequently rebranded Hillsong Worship) and featuring principal contributors Geoff Bullock and Darlene Zschech, who remained central to later Hillsong projects. By 1999 the Houstons had changed the church's name to Hillsong in recognition of the brand's prominence. Even after multiple controversies drew attention to the ministry's political positions, the organization maintained momentum, and the 2004 live Hillsong Worship album For All You've Done reached the summit of Australia's pop charts. Attendance at the July 2005 Hillsong Conference surpassed 30,000, and by early 2006 weekly services drew more than 19,000 participants.
Although the Hillsong Worship series issues an annual recording drawn from the conference, the parallel Hillsong United series originated as the church's youth-ministry ensemble. First known as United Live and initially fronted by Reuben Morgan and Marty Sampson, the group released its debut Everyday in 1999. Each subsequent album was captured live at the October youth event Encounterfest, incorporating input from assorted church members, associates, and supporters such as Christian folk performer Brooke Fraser, before appearing on CD and DVD the next year. After Morgan departed in 2002 to pursue solo work, Joel Houston assumed leadership and the ensemble adopted the Hillsong United name. Its profile rose steadily in both hemispheres, with United We Stand becoming Canada's top-selling Christian album of 2006. All of the Above replicated that level of success in 2007, as did a_CROSS//the_EARTH: Tear Down the Walls and the companion live set Faith + Hope + Love in 2009.
As the church added further international locations during the 2010s, its musical output continued to grow, with the principal series often listed simply as Hillsong on packaging. Additional ongoing projects under the Hillsong umbrella include Hillsong Chapel and Hillsong Young & Free. While already established in Australia, the ministry gained comparable traction in the United States, where God Is Able (2010), Zion (2013), No Other Name (2014), Open Heaven/River Wild (2015), and Let There Be Light (2016) each led the Billboard Christian charts and typically placed high on the pop listings as well. In 2017 the collective issued the six-track EP What a Beautiful Name, whose title track featured Brooke Ligertwood, along with the holiday collection Christmas: The Peace Project. There Is More arrived the following year, and early 2019 brought the second compilation The Very Best of Hillsong, Vol. 2, which drew from every Hillsong division including Young & Free and United.
Albums
Singles
