Hillsong United (stylised as Hillsong UNITED or UNITED) is a worship collective that originated as a part of Hillsong Church. Formed in 1998 as part of Hillsong's youth ministry, the band consists of several rotating worship leaders from the church, including Joel Houston, Matt Crocker, Jonathon Douglass, Jad Gillies and Benjamin Hastings. Since then, the group has released fourteen live albums, as well as five studio albums (sixteen albums in total). The band composes songs and performs in church services as well as concerts on worldwide tours.
Band members are involved in Hillsong Church services and also play for the church.[1] The band has toured in a number of countries, leading worship in various places and has an international influence.[2][3][4]
History
Originally called United Live,[5] Hillsong United was formed in 1998, originating from the youth ministry of Hillsong Church called Powerhouse Youth.[6][7] The band released their first live album Everyday after Darlene Zschech—the worship pastor of the church—suggested for them to record their own CDs.[5] Mentored by Zschech in their early years, the band was first led by Reuben Morgan. Joel Houston and Marty Sampson took over the leadership in 2002.[7][8] The official UNITED logo was designed by drummer Luke Munns in 2002 for To the Ends of the Earth.[9]
After several live albums in the 2000s, the band released their first full studio album All of the Above in 2007.[7]
In 2014, Hillsong United was nominated for and won five GMA Dove Awards, including Song of the Year for "Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)".[10][11] The band also received its first ever American Music Awards nomination that year, for Favorite Artist – Contemporary Inspirational, but did not win.[12][13] 2015 saw the band nominated for a second consecutive year in the same category at the 43rd edition of the show.[14] It was also nominated for the first time at that year's Billboard Music Awards in the Top Christian Artist and Top Christian Song categories; it won the former.[15] The band was nominated again at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards, and garnered four nods across all three Christian categories, winning its second consecutive Top Christian Artist award, and its first for Top Christian Song with "Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)".[16] The band won two Dove Awards, including Worship Album of the Year, for its fourth studio album Empires, at the 47th Gospel Music Awards held that October.[17] In 2018, the band received four nominations at the 49th GMA Dove Awards including one for Artist of the Year—it won Recorded Worship Song of the Year for its single "So Will I (100 Billion X)".[18][19]
Members
Joel Houston – worship leader, acoustic guitar, keyboard, percussion
A documentary, Hillsong: Let Hope Rise, directed by Michael John Warren, chronicles the rise of the band,[58] was originally supposed to be released by Warner Bros. during the 2015 Easter weekend.[59] As Alcon Entertainment and Warner Bros. were unable to close a deal, the film was pulled out from Warner Bros' schedule.[60] In March 2015, Relativity Media obtained the distribution rights and the film shifted to a 29 May release.[61] In April, Relativity moved the film to 30 September 2015.[62] However, Relativity Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July and let go of the rights to the producers.[63][64] PureFlix acquired the film and it was released on 16 September 2016.[citation needed]
Awards
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2023)
^"2018 Nominees". doveawards.com. 8 August 2018. Archived from the original on 28 August 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2020. (Note: Tap the "+" next to Cat 1, Cat 2, Cat 8 and Cat 20 to view each of the 4 nominations.)
^"2018 Winners". doveawards.com. 16 October 2018. Archived from the original on 17 October 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2020. (Note: Tap "Next" at the bottom of the page to view second page of winners and scroll to the last category listed for Worship Song of the Year (Category 20) winner.)
^Live in Miami album booklet. "Hillsong United is Matt Crocker, Adam Crosariol, Jonathon Douglass, Jad Gillies, Joel Houston, Peter James, Timon Klein, Simon Kobler, Hayley Law, Jill McCloghry, Dylan Thomas."
^Zion album booklet. "Hillsong United is Joel Houston, Jad Gillies, Matt Crocker, Jonathon Douglass, Timon Klein, SImon Kobler, Dylan Thomas, Peter James, Adam Crosariol."
^ abcdeYap, Timothy (26 December 2012). "Hillsong United 'Zion' Album Review". BreatheCast. Retrieved 5 January 2016. Gone are previous United leaders such as Marty Sampson, Annie [Garratt], Brooke Fraser, Hayley Law, Jill McCloghry and Sam Knock. Rather, leads this time are handled mainly by Matt Crocker, Joel Houston, Jad Gillies, Jonathon Douglass, Dave Ware and newcomer Taya Smith.
"Secularising the Sacred: The Impact of Geoff Bullock on Contemporary Congregational Song in Sydney, 1990-1999". Dissertation for the award of PhD, Macquarie University, 2002. Evans, Mark. Retrieved 3 March 2012
"Open up the Doors: Music in the Modern Church" London: Equinox, 2006. Evans, Mark.
