Matt Redman
Matthew James Redman (born 14 February 1974) is an English Christian worship leader, singer-songwriter, and author renowned for his contributions to contemporary worship music.[1][2]
Redman, who resides in California with his wife Beth and their five children, has released over a dozen albums and co-authored songs that have become staples in global church worship, such as "Blessed Be Your Name," "The Heart of Worship," and "Our God."[3][4] His work emphasizes reverence and theological depth in worship, influencing millions through live performances and recordings.[5]
Among his most significant achievements, Redman's collaboration with Jonas Myrin on "10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)" earned two Grammy Awards in 2013: Best Contemporary Christian Music Song and Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance.[6] The track topped Billboard's Christian Songs chart and has been widely adopted in worship settings worldwide.[1] Redman has also received multiple Dove Awards, underscoring his impact on the genre.[7] Early in his career, he was associated with the Soul Survivor ministry in the UK, where he honed his songwriting amid a focus on authentic congregational praise.[8]
Early life
Childhood and family influences
Matthew James Redman was born on February 14, 1974, in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, and raised in a Christian household that instilled early foundations of faith.[9][10] At the age of seven, Redman experienced profound loss when his father died by suicide, an event he later described as initiating a period of emotional turmoil and fatherlessness that profoundly shaped his perspective on gratitude and paternal themes.[11][12] Following this tragedy, his mother remarried, but the subsequent family dynamics contributed to what Redman has characterized as a turbulent childhood marked by instability.[13][1] These early hardships fostered a resilient faith orientation, emphasizing themes of blessing amid adversity, as reflected in Redman's later reflections on finding stability through spiritual practices during unstable years.[12] Additionally, his family's involvement across varied ecclesiastical traditions—from Catholic and high Anglican settings to Pentecostal environments—exposed him to a spectrum of worship expressions, cultivating an appreciation for diverse Christian practices that informed his broad ecclesiastical worldview.[5]Initial musical and spiritual development
Matt Redman grew up in a non-churchgoing family and experienced significant personal loss when his father died by suicide at around age seven, an event that later influenced his emotional and spiritual processing through music.[5] He converted to Christianity at age ten in 1984 during a Luis Palau evangelistic rally at Queens Park Rangers football stadium in London, drawn particularly by the message emphasizing God's fatherly love, which resonated amid his family circumstances.[14] [5] This conversion marked the beginning of his active involvement in St Andrew's Anglican Church in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire, where the church community provided stability during his turbulent adolescence.[15] At St Andrew's, Redman first engaged with music in a worship context, learning to play guitar around age fifteen to support youth group gatherings.[16] [15] Encouraged by church leaders, he began leading worship sessions for the youth, initially using familiar hymns such as "How Great Thou Art" to foster communal expression of faith.[14] These early experiences in local church settings ignited his passion for music as a vehicle for spiritual connection, shaped by the worship songs encountered there rather than formal training.[5] Redman's spiritual foundation deepened through consistent church participation and personal engagement with scripture, which he later described as offering daily sustenance and perspective amid life's challenges.[14] In his late teens, around age nineteen, he initiated songwriting as a means to articulate personal pain and faith insights, drawing from biblical themes and the stabilizing influence of church worship environments.[16] [5] This period laid the groundwork for his pursuit of authentic, scripture-rooted worship, prioritizing reverence and emotional honesty over performance.[14]Ministry and leadership
Early church involvement in the UK
Redman grew up attending St Andrew's Church, an Anglican parish in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire, where he became a Christian at age 10 around 1984.[15] As a teenager, he learned to play guitar expressly to support worship leading in the church's youth ministry, marking his initial grassroots participation in organized church activities during the late 1980s and early 1990s.[15] [17] This hands-on role in small youth gatherings allowed him to experiment with song structures and delivery, fostering a style centered on direct, congregational engagement rather than performance.[18] By 1994, at age 20, Redman assumed a full-time worship leadership position at St Andrew's, coordinating teams for regular services and youth events that drew local attendance growth through evangelistic music sessions.[19] [20] His approach involved adapting contemporary instrumentation to traditional settings, as demonstrated in 1990s visits to smaller UK churches like one in Halifax, where he introduced a full band to replace sole reliance on organ accompaniment, enhancing participatory singing.[18] This trial-and-error process refined his emphasis on simplicity and scriptural depth, with early songs emerging from personal prophecies and youth-focused improvisation, contributing to measurable increases in non-Christian attendance at events he led.[15] Within evangelical networks, Redman's contributions received early notice by the mid-1990s for their sincere, biblically grounded lyrics that prioritized theological content over stylistic flair, positioning him as part of Britain's emerging worship renewal in local congregations.[18] Interviews from 1994 highlighted his role in youth teams that achieved weekly turnouts exceeding 100, including 80-90 unchurched individuals, evidencing organic expansion through accessible, heart-oriented leading.[15]Role at Soul Survivor Ministries
Redman began his association with Soul Survivor Ministries in the mid-1990s, shortly after starting his worship leading at St. Andrew's Church in Chorleywood, by helping to establish the organization alongside founder Mike Pilavachi in Watford, England.[21][19] As one of the primary worship leaders from its inception, he co-led sessions at the early youth festivals, which emphasized charismatic worship and youth engagement, fostering an environment for musical and spiritual expression among attendees.[15][22] During this period, Redman's songwriting contributions, including anthems composed in collaboration with others at Soul Survivor events, played a key role in elevating the ministry's profile. Tracks like "Blessed Be Your Name," developed amid the festivals' communal worship settings, gained traction through live performances and recordings tied to the organization, extending Soul Survivor's influence beyond the UK.[23] His leadership helped shape the festivals' worship style, blending contemporary songcraft with extended congregational participation. The empirical impact of Redman's involvement is evident in the festivals' attendance growth; by 2002, events drew 21,500 participants—a 42 percent increase from the prior year—reflecting thousands of young people influenced annually through these gatherings.[24] This expansion underscored Soul Survivor's role in youth revival, with Redman's consistent presence contributing to its reputation as a hub for emerging worship practices.[25]Transition to U.S.-based ministry
In 2008, Matt Redman relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, to contribute to the establishment of Passion City Church alongside Louie Giglio and Chris Tomlin.[26] This initiative stemmed from Redman's prior affinity for the Passion movement, which he had engaged with through conferences over the preceding decade, prompting a deliberate shift from his foundational UK ministry to support church planting in a U.S. context.[27] The move facilitated deeper integration into American evangelical networks, emphasizing large-scale gatherings that drew thousands for worship and discipleship.[28] Redman's transition aligned with the Passion movement's expansion, including the launch of Passion City Church in June 2008 following events like the Passion 07 conference. His participation in Passion conferences amplified the reach of his compositions, such as "10,000 Reasons" and "Blessed Be Your Name," which gained widespread adoption in U.S. churches through live performances and recordings tied to these events.[29] This broader platform contrasted with the more localized youth-focused worship at Soul Survivor, enabling causal linkages to global evangelical trends via collaborations with figures like Chris Tomlin and David Crowder in joint Passion productions.[29] The adaptation involved tailoring Redman's songwriting and leadership to American megachurch dynamics, prioritizing congregational singability and thematic depth suited to diverse audiences at arenas hosting 20,000–60,000 attendees annually.[28] By 2009, this shift had yielded tangible outputs, including recordings like the album We Shall Not Be Shaken, produced in Nashville, reflecting his embedded role in U.S.-centric worship ecosystems.Current global worship leadership
Since transitioning his base to California, where he resides with his wife Beth and their five children, Matt Redman has maintained a prominent role in international worship leadership through seminars, conferences, and collaborative events focused on theological depth in worship practices.[3] He hosts the WOR/TH series, one-day worship and theology seminars designed to equip songwriters, worship leaders, and church teams with biblical and poetic approaches to worship, featuring guest theologians, pastors, and musicians; events include a September 27, 2025, gathering in Toronto, Ontario.[30][31] Redman serves as Songwriter in Residence at Biola University's Conservatory of Music, providing direct instruction to students on worship songwriting and leadership, emphasizing integration of doctrine with musical expression.[32] His involvement extends to global conferences, such as the 2025 Gather25 25-hour event, where he contributes to discussions on worship's role in the church across nations including South Korea.[33] In 2025, he led masterclasses on songwriting at the MultiTracks Conference and participated in worship nights at U.S. venues like Mariners Church and Valley Baptist Church in Bakersfield, California, on October 5.[34][35][36] On October 3, 2025, Redman released Life & Breath, his first live-studio album comprising nine new songs recorded with collaborators including Joe L. Barnes and Charity Gayle, marking his 20th project overall and highlighting a format blending live energy with studio precision via Integrity Music.[37][38] This release underscores his ongoing influence in shaping contemporary worship music, with tracks like "The God We Love" drawing from creedal affirmations to foster doctrinal focus in congregational singing.[39] Through podcasts and teachings, he continues mentoring emerging leaders on prioritizing theological substance over mere performance, as evidenced in 2025 episodes featuring veteran worship figures.[40]Songwriting and musical career
Key compositions and collaborations
Matt Redman's songwriting emphasizes congregational worship songs that draw directly from biblical texts, particularly Psalms, to articulate themes of divine faithfulness amid human suffering. His 2011 composition "10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)," co-written with Jonas Myrin, exemplifies this approach by enumerating grounds for perpetual praise based on Psalm 103's call to bless the Lord with one's soul, regardless of circumstances.[41] The song earned two Grammy Awards in 2013: Best Contemporary Christian Music Song and Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance.[41] Similarly, "Blessed Be Your Name," co-authored with his wife Beth Redman in 2002, responds to trials like the September 11 attacks by affirming God's sovereignty in abundance or scarcity, echoing Job 1:21's declaration that the Lord gives and takes away while warranting blessing.[42] Another prominent work, "Our God," co-written in 2010 with Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, and Jonas Myrin, underscores God's unparalleled power and redemptive acts, such as turning water to wine and restoring sight, rooted in scriptural motifs of divine uniqueness from Exodus 15:11 and Isaiah 40.[43] Redman has collaborated extensively with Tomlin on songs performed at Passion conferences, including joint renditions that amplify shared emphases on God's reign.[44] These partnerships extend to broader worship networks, with Redman's compositions adopted by groups like Passion for live events featuring multiple leaders.[45] Redman's lyrics consistently prioritize gratitude as an active response to God's unchanging character, as in "10,000 Reasons," where praise endures "whatever may pass and whatever lies before me."[46] Sovereignty emerges as a core motif, portraying God as faithful through personal and collective hardships, derived from exegesis of passages like Job and Psalms that affirm divine control without sentimentality.[42][47] This scriptural grounding avoids vague emotionalism, instead fostering resilience by linking worship to God's proven reliability in history and individual experience.[48]Album discography
Matt Redman's album discography encompasses over 20 releases, including studio, live, and compilation projects, primarily in the contemporary Christian worship genre. Early works were produced through UK labels like Kingsway Music, focusing on church-based recordings, while later albums shifted to international distribution via partnerships with Integrity Music and sixstepsrecords (a Capitol Christian Music Group imprint), reflecting his growing global influence.[3] Production often involved live worship settings at events or studios, with collaborations featuring artists from Bethel Music and Passion Conferences. Verifiable commercial data is sparse, but key releases like 10,000 Reasons (2011) surpassed 500,000 units sold, contributing to overall catalog sales exceeding that figure in the United States. Individual tracks from his albums have generated hundreds of millions of streams on Spotify, underscoring their enduring use in church repertoires worldwide.[49][50] The following table lists major albums chronologically, emphasizing verifiable release details and notable production or metric facts:| Year | Album Title | Type | Label/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Facedown | Studio/Live hybrid | Initial UK release via Kingsway; reissued in 2004 for U.S. market by EMI Christian Music Group, marking early international expansion.[51] |
| 2002 | Where Angels Fear to Tread | Studio | Kingsway Music; focused on introspective worship themes. |
| 2003 | The Heart of Worship Files (Vol. 1) | Compilation/Live | Kingsway; drew from Soul Survivor events, emphasizing raw worship recordings. |
| 2005 | Blessed Be Your Name | Studio | Kingsway/EMI; included signature tracks with broad church adoption. |
| 2009 | We Shall Not Be Shaken | Live | sixstepsrecords; recorded at Passion conferences, signaling U.S.-centric production shift. |
| 2011 | 10,000 Reasons | Live | sixstepsrecords/Integrity; topped Billboard Christian charts, sold over 500,000 copies.[49] |
| 2013 | Your Grace Finds Me | Live | sixstepsrecords/Integrity; featured collaborations, achieved strong streaming traction. |
| 2015 | Unbroken Praise | Live | sixstepsrecords; emphasized unbroken worship sessions. |
| 2016 | These Christmas Lights | Studio | Integrity; seasonal release with orchestral elements. |
| 2017 | Glory Song | Live | sixstepsrecords; included global choir recordings. |
| 2023 | Lamb of God | Live | Integrity; focused on Christ-centered themes. |
| 2024 | Coming Back to the Heart (Live Collection) | Live compilation | Integrity; designated as his 20th album.[3] |
| 2025 | Life & Breath | Live-studio hybrid | Integrity; first such format in his catalog, released October 3.[52] |