NEEDTOBREATHE

South Carolina rock outfit Needtobreathe launched during the 2000s with earnest vocals, a spacious and resonant sonic palette, and faith-driven lyrics that later propelled them to sustained mainstream appeal. Extensive roadwork alongside stylistically diverse artists including Train, Taylor Swift, and Tim McGraw broadened their following, allowing each new release to ascend higher on the pop rankings until The Reckoning reached the Top Ten in 2011 and Hard Love climbed to number two in 2016. Those projects, together with Out of Body in 2020, also claimed the summit of the Christian Albums chart, a feat repeated by Into the Mystery when it appeared in 2021 accompanied by a companion documentary film. Their sixth straight Christian chart-topper, Caves, surfaced in 2023 and centered on self-discovery themes.

Brothers Bear and Bryant “Bo” Rinehart established the group after growing up in rural Possum Kingdom, South Carolina, where their father, a pastor, operated a church camp. Relocating to nearby Seneca exposed the siblings to diverse sounds and prompted them to pick up instruments. Years afterward, while attending Furman University, Bear—an award-winning wide receiver—balanced academics with vocal, guitar, and piano duties, occasionally joining longtime friend and drummer Joe Stillwell for campus performances. Bo, meanwhile, pursued architecture at Clemson and practiced guitar during free hours. Following graduation, Bo and bassist Seth Bolt completed the Bear/Stillwell lineup to create Needtobreathe.

Because Bolt held a recording-engineering degree, the quartet refined its material across multiple EPs tracked at his Plantation Studios before mounting an intensive tour circuit through the Southeast and Midwest. That groundwork led Atlantic/Lava Records to sign the band in 2005. Their first full-length effort, Daylight—whose artwork Bo painted—emerged the next year after sessions at Britain’s Heliocentric Studios under Keane producer Andy Green. Dates supporting Train, Collective Soul, and Will Hoge filled the calendar, prompting a December return to the studio for the follow-up. Issued in August 2007, The Heat cemented their status among Christian rock’s leading newcomers, generated several singles, earned two Dove Award nominations, and retained secular listeners.

The Outsiders arrived in 2009 with an expansive sonic approach recalling U2 and the Fray while underscoring the band’s affinity for Southern rock. Strong singles from the set earned three Dove Awards in 2010 from Christian audiences and drove the album to number 20 on the Billboard charts among mainstream listeners. Continued touring reinforced that momentum, keeping the musicians on the road for two uninterrupted years, including Bonnaroo appearances and a series of North American stadium dates opening for Taylor Swift. Late 2010 saw the Live Horses EP, after which fresh songwriting produced 2011’s The Reckoning, which rose to number six on Billboard’s Top 200. Stillwell departed in summer 2012, yet the Keep Your Eyes Open EP drawn from those sessions reached the Top 100 that autumn, followed by the five-track Cercas Blancas EP in 2013.

Needtobreathe issued their fifth studio album, the grounded Rivers in the Wasteland, in 2014 alongside the live EP 60/50 Ocean Way: The Live Room Sessions. Rivers in the Wasteland peaked at number three on the Billboard albums chart, and “Multiplied” secured the band’s first Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song. Their initial full-length concert album, Live from the Woods at Fontanel—captured at the Nashville venue on September 13, 2014—appeared in spring 2015 ahead of their first headlining North American tour. A third Wasteland-related project, Rivers EP, closed 2015 with four reworked tracks, among them a new “Brother” featuring Gavin DeGraw.

Early 2016 brought word of the sixth studio LP, Hard Love. Released that July, the record incorporated hip-hop beats and a pop sensibility akin to OneRepublic. Lead single “Happiness,” buoyed by gospel choir and handclaps, entered the Billboard Christian chart at number five, while the album itself reached number two on the Top 200—then the band’s highest placement. After extensive 2017 touring, the group returned in early 2018 with “Bridges Burn,” “Darling,” and “Bullets” from the Forever on Your Side EP. Later that year they released Acoustic Live, Vol. 1, compiling twelve performances from their 2017 acoustic run.

The band reconvened in 2020 to begin a seventh album, during which co-founder Bo Rinehart elected to leave. Shortly after his departure the remaining trio unveiled singles “Hang On” and “Who Am I,” the latter becoming a Top 30 Christian-chart hit. Both songs appeared on Out of Body (Elektra), which secured their third consecutive Christian number one that August. A further live collection, Live from the Woods, Vol. 2, followed in April 2021.

With 2020 touring postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Needtobreathe isolated at a historic Tennessee house to record. The resulting album, Into the Mystery, arrived in July 2021 alongside a documentary of the same name directed by Chris Phelps that documented the sessions. Guest contributions from Carrie Underwood and Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman helped the project become their fifth straight Christian Albums chart-topper. Mid-2022 yielded the non-album single “Talk of the Town,” and 2023 brought the rousing spiritual-discovery track “The Cave,” previewing their ninth studio album. Titled Caves, it landed later that year and again topped the Christian Albums chart.