Christopher August Megert (born March 20, 1982) is an American

Contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christianity, Christi ...

ian who performs under the stage name Chris August. August began recording as a secular musician before switching to Christian music. His song " Starry Night" reached No. 1 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

Christian Songs Hot Christian Songs is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It ranks the popularity of Christian songs using the same methodology developed for the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the magazine's flagship songs c ...

chart in 2010/2011. He was nominated at the 2011

Dove Awards A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Award ...

in five categories, including

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...

and Song of the Year.

Music career

August began recording music in his early teens after his father built a studio in their home in

Garland, Texas Garland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is located northeast of Dallas and is a part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is located within Dallas County except for small portions located in Collin and Rockwall Counties. At the ...

. He became a Christian when he turned 15 years old and began to record music. August continued to practice and release his first self-produced album ''A Beautiful Thing'' as a 22-year-old under the name Chris Megert and the Love Jones. The album was found by

Ryan Cabrera Ryan Frank Cabrera ( ) (born July 18, 1982) is an American musician. He began his career as a lead singer for the Dallas band Rubix Groove before pursuing his solo career. Following the 2001 release of independent album '' Elm St.'', he released ...

who guided August to a new manager,

Jessica Simpson Jessica Ann Simpson (born July 10, 1980) is an American singer, actress, entrepreneur and philanthropist. After performing in church choirs as a child, Simpson signed with Columbia Records in 1997, aged seventeen. Her debut studio album, ''Swee ...

's father Joe Simpson. August landed a contract with

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

and he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

in 2005. He helped with producing records for

Brian McKnight Brian Kelly McKnight (born June 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, radio host and multi-instrumentalist. He is most recognized for his strong head voice, high belting range and melisma. McKnight is known for h ...

and Jessica Simpson as well as playing keyboards on

Ashlee Simpson Ashley Nicolle Ross ( Simpson; born October 3, 1984), known professionally as Ashlee Simpson, is an American singer and actress. The younger sister of singer and actress Jessica Simpson, she began her career as a back-up dancer for her sister ...

's tour; he also played as the opening act on Ashlee Simpson's tour. August's contract with Geffen fell through while they were renegotiating his contract so he went back home to Texas. While at home, August decided to stop working on secular projects and began to work solely on Christian music. August wrote the song "Starry Night" as a demo and he received a contract from Word Records. He recorded the album ''No Far Away'' in 2010 and the song was released as a single that year. The album peaked at No. 15 on the

Christian Albums Top Christian Albums is a weekly chart published in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the best-performing Christian albums in the United States. Like the ''Billboard'' 200, the data is compiled by Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly ...

charts and No. 9 on the Heatseeker Albums. The single hit No. 1 on the Billboard Christian Songs chart and it reached No. 21 on Billboard's

Heatseeker Songs Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

. When the song topped the Christian AC Monitored chart, it was the first debut single to reach No. 1 in over three years. His second single was "7x70" which is a song about forgiveness following his parents' divorce when he was a fifth grade student. August toured to support the album, first opening for

Point of Grace Point of Grace is an all-female contemporary Christian music vocal group. The current trio consists of Shelley Breen, Denise Jones, and Leigh Cappillino. The group started out as a quartet in 1991, with original members Breen and Jones, as wel ...

for a twelve-night tour. August joined the Winter Jam 2011 national tour along with

Newsboys Newsboys (sometimes stylised as newsboys) are a Christian rock band founded in 1985 in Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia, by Peter Furler and George Perdikis. Now based in Nashville, Tennessee, the band has released 17 studio albums, 6 of which ...

and

Francesca Battistelli Francesca Battistelli (born May 18, 1985) is an American Christian singer and songwriter. She was originally an independent artist and had released an independent album, ''Just a Breath'', in 2004. Her first studio album on Fervent Records, '' M ...

in 45 cities. August received five

Dove Award A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awar ...

nominations in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

: New Artist of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year, subsequently winning New Artist of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year and Pop/Contemporary Recorded Album of the Year.

Personal life

August married Katelin Cummings on February 6, 2016.

Awards

;

GMA Dove Awards A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Award ...

Discography

* ''

No Far Away ''No Far Away'' is the first studio album by contemporary Christian musician Chris August. It was released on August 24, 2010 through Fervent Records, and produced by Chris August and Ed Cash. The album made it up to No. 1 on the Top Heatseekers l ...

'' (2010) * '' The Upside of Down'' (2012) * '' The Maker'' (2015) * ''Seasons'' (2018)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:August, Chris 1982 births 21st-century American singers American performers of Christian music Fervent Records artists Living people Singers from Texas People from Garland, Texas Word Records artists 21st-century American male singers