Naomi Raine

Naomi Raine stands out as a featured performer with the CCM and gospel ensemble Maverick City Music, where her work as a vocalist, composer, and worship leader highlights a commanding vocal presence alongside spiritually driven songcraft. Her initial full-length project, Heart Songs, Vol. 1: My Heart, arrived in 2015, with a follow-up volume issued before she entered Maverick City Music in 2019. She maintained her solo output while contributing to the ensemble’s 2021 joint release Old Church Basement alongside Elevation Worship, an effort that reached the summit of the charts and captured a Grammy. Maverick City Music secured four Grammy Awards in 2023, three tied to the 2022 Kirk Franklin collaboration Kingdom: Book One and one for the group’s own Breathe EP from that same year. Raine also embarked on solo dates and issued the live recording Cover the Earth (Live in New York) in 2023.

A native of New York City, she performed at her first concert while still a toddler and composed her earliest song at age seven. After acquiring guitar skills, she introduced her self-released debut Heart Songs, Vol. 1: My Heart in 2015, followed by Heart Songs, Vol. 2: Adoration in 2017 and the live set Back to Eden, Pt. 1 in mid-2019. She aligned with Atlanta, Georgia’s Maverick City Music in time to appear on the Dove Award-nominated Maverick City, Vol. 3 in 2020 and its companion Maverick City, Vol. 3 Pt. 2; both projects entered the Top Ten of Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart and reached number two on the gospel equivalent. Her own Back to Eden, Pt. 2 surfaced that year as well.

A larger success came with the 2021 Elevation Worship partnership Old Church Basement, which entered the Billboard 200’s Top 30, led both the Christian and gospel tallies, and registered in Canada, Australia, and Switzerland. The album earned the Grammy for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album. By late 2021 the collective had added the live projects Jubilee: Juneteenth Edition and Tribl I (with worship outfit Tribl), the Spanish-language Venga Tu Reino, and the holiday collection A Very Maverick Christmas, all except the Spanish title reaching the Top Ten of the Top Christian Albums chart.

During 2022 Raine delivered the solo album Journey, which she co-produced with G. Morris Coleman. Maverick City Music meanwhile released the February EP Breathe, reunited with Tribl for April’s Tribl Nights Anthologies, issued the June Spanish project Simple Adoración, and joined forces with Kirk Franklin on the live Kingdom: Book One, captured during their successful tour. Kingdom: Book One became their second Billboard 200 entry, peaking at 151, while hitting number two on both the gospel and Christian lists; it later received three Grammys for Best Gospel Album, Best Gospel Performance/Song for “Kingdom” (featuring Raine and Chandler Moore), and Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for “Fear Is Not My Future.” The Breathe EP claimed the Grammy for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album.

Raine opened 2023 with a tour alongside Tasha Cobbs Leonard, Natalie Grant, and Taya, then released Cover the Earth (Live in New York) in June, which included guest spots from Grant, Todd Dulaney, and Lizzie Morgan. Three months later Maverick City Music unveiled the Maverick Way EP, later expanded into The Maverick Way Complete; the nearly three-hour collection showcased their characteristic uplifting worship anthems prominently featuring Raine and Moore.