Newsboys

christian

The Newsboys are a Christian pop/rock band formed in 1987 in Mooloolaba, Australia (although they soon relocated to Nashville, Tennessee). Its core members, John James and Peter Furler, originally hailed from Australia where they played in a band together called The News. Newsboys are considered one of the most popular bands in the Christian music industry. They have had numerous hit singles on the Christian pop charts, including Shine (1994), Take Me To Your Leader (1996) and He Reigns (2003). In 2000, they helped start and headlined the annual, travelling CCM festival Festival Con Dios with Audio Adrenaline and The O.C. Supertones. It was known for featuring popular Christian bands and its motorcross stunts. Steve Taylor has produced many of their hit albums, and several of the songs he has worked on with the band (such as Breakfast, Take Me To Your Leader) feature Taylor's humor and quaint lyrics. During the Step Up To The Microphone tour, the band featured the drums on a rotating platform that could tilt downward up to 90 degrees. In fact, there were two sets of drums and Peter Furler (the original drummer) and Duncan Phillips would wear seat belts, so they wouldn't fall out, and have a rotating drum-off. This feature is still used on their tours and has grown to be quite popular. In 2003, Jody Davis left the band to care for his sick daughter, Bethany. His replacement, Bryan Olesen, left in 2006 to work on his own band, Casting Pearls. The band announced in Januar...