Brian Mark Johnson (born March 17, 1978) is an American

contemporary worship Contemporary worship is a form of Christian worship that emerged within Western evangelical Protestantism in the 20th century. It was originally confined to the charismatic movement, but is now found in a wide range of churches, including ...

musician and worship pastor. He is the president and co-founder of

Bethel Music Bethel Music is an American Christian music label and publishing group. Beginning as a local music ministry, it became a global outreach collective of songwriters and musicians. History Between 2009 and 2013, Bethel Music developed a record la ...

, as well as a member of its Artist Collective and is one-half of the husband-and-wife worship duo, Brian & Jenn Johnson. He is also a senior worship pastor at Bethel Church in Redding,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and a Senior Overseer of WorshipU, an online school of worship under Bethel Music, which he co-founded with Jenn Johnson. As a solo musician, Johnson has released one album, ''Love Came Down - Live Acoustic Worship in the Studio'' (2010). As a part of Brian & Jenn Johnson, three live albums have been released: ''

Undone Undone may refer to: Literature * ''Undone'' (Colapinto novel), a 2015 novel by John Colapinto * ''Undone'' (Humphreys novel), a 2013 ''Amoveo Legend'' novel by Sara Humphreys * ''Undone'' (Slaughter novel), a 2009 ''Will Trent'' and ''Grand C ...

'' (2001), '' We Believe'' (2006)- the duo's first release to chart on ''

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 advertis ...

''s

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 ...

chart, and ''

Where You Go I Go ''Where You Go I Go'' is the third live album by American Christian worship duo Brian & Jenn Johnson. The album was released on September 30, 2008 by ION Records. Jeremy Edwardson and Brian Johnson worked together on the production of the album ...

'' (2008). The duo has also released one studio album, '' After All These Years'' (2017), which charted on the US ''Billboard'' 200. As a founding member of

, Johnson has been featured on most Bethel Music releases. As a songwriter, Johnson has co-written CCLI Top 100 Chart ranking songs such as "Love Came Down," "

No Longer Slaves "No Longer Slaves" is a song by Bethel Music featuring Jonathan David & Melissa Helser and it was released on August 21, 2015, as Bethel Music's lead single from their seventh live album, '' We Will Not Be Shaken'' (2015). The song also appeared ...

", "Forever", and "One Thing Remains". Johnson has also worked as a producer on multiple Bethel Music, Jesus Culture, and Brian & Jenn Johnson releases, alongside various producers such as

Jeremy Edwardson Jeremy Edwardson (born March 25, 1979) is an American singer/songwriter, record producer, audio engineer, mixer, and former lead vocalist of the Seattle-based band, The Myriad. He owns and operates The Soundhouse recording studio in his hometown ...

and Ian McIntosh.

Early life

Brian Mark Johnson was born on March 17, 1978, to Bill Johnson and Brenda "Beni" Johnson in Redding,

. In the year of his birth, the Johnson family moved to

Weaverville, California Weaverville ( Chimariko: ) is a census-designated place and the county seat of Trinity County, California, United States. Its population is 3,667 as of the 2020 census, up from 3,600 from the 2010 census. History Founded in 1850, Weaverville i ...

, after Bethel Church, under the leadership of his grandfather, Earl Johnson, sent his father to pastor Mountain Chapel. He completed his high school education at

Trinity High School Trinity High School is the name of high schools: United Kingdom * Trinity High School, Renfrew, Renfrewshire, Scotland * Trinity High School, Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, Scotland * Trinity High School and Sixth Form Centre, in Redditch, England * Trin ...

in Weaverville. After seventeen years, the Johnsons moved back to Redding in 1996 when Bill and Beni Johnson assumed leadership of Bethel Church. Johnson has two siblings: an older brother, Eric Johnson, who is a pastor at Bethel Church, and a younger sister, Leah Valenzuela (née Johnson), who is also a member of the Bethel Music collective and one of the worship leaders at Bethel Church.

Ministry and music career

2000s

In 2000, Johnson and his wife, Jenn Johnson, were appointed as senior worship pastors at Bethel Church. As Brian & Jenn Johnson, they released their debut album, ''

'', in 2001, featuring Johnson's younger sister Leah Valenzuela. After a five-year hiatus, Brian & Jenn Johnson released their second live album, '' We Believe'' in 2006, which was co-produced by Johnson alongside

and Steven Tracy. '' We Believe'' also charted at No. 48 on the ''Billboard'' Christian Albums chart, making the album the first by the duo to register on the chart. On September 30, 2008, ''

'', the duo's third album, was released via the label Ion Records.

2010s

In 2010, Bethel Music released ''

Here Is Love ''Here Is Love'' is the first live album by California-based worship collective Bethel Music. The album was released on October 12, 2010, by Bethel Music alongside Integrity Music. Jeremy Edwardson worked on the production of the album. The alb ...

'', its debut album on October 12, via its own label, Bethel Music alongside Integrity Music. Johnson featured on four tracks: "My Soul Sings", "What Does It Sound Like", "Worthy Is the Lamb" and "Here Is Love", which he sang alongside his wife, Jenn Johnson. Johnson made an appearance on Dave Fitzgerald's debut album, ''Hope of Heaven: Live at Bethel Church'', which was released on October 26, featuring on the song "Shine". Soon after Fitzgerald's release, ''Love Came Down - Live Acoustic Worship in the Studio'', Brian Johnson's debut live album, was released by record labels Bethel and Kingsway Music on November 9. ''Love Came Down'' was produced by

, and recorded at The Soundhouse, a studio owned by Jeremy Edwardson in Redding, California. In 2011, Brian Johnson featured on five tracks including "You Are Good", "One Thing Remains" and "What Would I Have Done" alongside Jenn Johnson on Bethel Music's second live album, ''

Be Lifted High ''Be Lifted High'' is the second live album by California-based worship collective Bethel Music. The album was released on February 15, 2011 by Kingsway Music alongside the group's imprint label, Bethel Music. Jeremy Edwardson worked on the prod ...

'', the first album by Bethel to register on ''Billboards Christian Albums Chart, peaking at No. 7. 2012 saw Bethel Music release two albums that Brian Johnson featured in and co-produced: ''

The Loft Sessions ''The Loft Sessions'' is the third album from California-based worship collective Bethel Music. The album was released on January 24, 2012 by Kingsway Music. Brian Johnson, Daniel James Mackenzie and Rick McDonald produced the album. Prior to t ...

'' and ''

For the Sake of the World ''For the Sake of the World'' is the fourth album from American worship collective Bethel Music. The album, produced by Brian Johnson, Ian McIntosh and Jeffrey Kunde, was released on 1 October 2012 by the collective's imprint label, Bethel Music. ...

''. ''The Loft Sessions'', released on January 24, was produced by Johnson alongside Daniel James Mackenzie and Rick McDonald and was the first album by Bethel Music to register on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, peaking at No. 44. Johnson featured on three tracks: "One Thing Remains", "You Have Won Me" and "Angels". ''

'', released on October 1 via Bethel Music, with Johnson leading worship on five songs including "To Our God", "Forgiven" and the album title track, "For the Sake of the World". The album peaked at No. 51 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart for three weeks, concurrently ranking at No. 2 on the Christian Albums chart. The song "Love Came Down", co-written by Brian Johnson alongside Jeremy Riddle, Ian McIntosh and

, was featured on the twelfth season of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'' as part of the "Songs I Wish I'd Written" night, with the performance of

Kari Jobe Kari Brooke Jobe (born April 6, 1981) is an American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter. Since her first album in 2009, she has received two Grammy Award nominations and ten Dove Award nominations, six of which she won. Early li ...

's rendition as on '' Where I Find You'' done by the contestant Angie Miller, a top 3 finalist. In 2013, Bethel Music released its first studio album, ''

Tides Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

'', on September 3, with Johnson being featured in three songs: "Forever", "Strong in Us" and "For the Cross", which he sang alongside his wife, Jenn. ''Tides'' was the first album by Bethel to reach No. 1 on Billboard Christian Albums chart and also peaked at No. 30 on ''Billboard'' 200 chart, with nearly 15,000 copies sold as at September 11, 2013. He had an interview with Marcus Hathcock, editor-in-chief of NewReleaseToday, concerning the album and his life. ''Worship Leader'' ranked the song "Forever" from Bethel's 2013 studio album, ''

'', which featured his vocals as lead, at Number 10 on its Top 20 Worship Songs of 2013 list. Brian Johnson alongside

Jeremy Riddle Jeremy Michael Riddle (born October 18, 1977) is an American Christian musician, songwriter, and worship leader, best known for a long tenure as an ensemble leader with Bethel Music. Background Born in Mount Holly Township, New Jersey Jeremy R ...

and Christa Black Gifford being nominated for two

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 ceremonies presented annually and have been held in Nashville, Tennessee excep ...

in the Song of the Year and Praise & Worship Song of the Year categories for writing the song, "One Thing Remains" in August 2013. In October 2013 at the 44th Annual GMA Dove Awards in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, Brian Johnson, together with his wife Jenn Johnson and

Kristian Stanfill Kristian Paul Stanfill (born April 9, 1983) is an American contemporary Christian music singer, songwriter and worship leader from Atlanta, Georgia. His 2011 album '' Mountains Move'' reached No. 64 on the ''Billboard'' 200. He is currently the ...

as well as the Passion band performed the song "One Thing Remains". However, the two Dove Awards were won by

Matt Redman Matthew James Redman (born 14 February 1974) is an English Christian worship leader, singer-songwriter and author. Redman has released 16 albums, written 8 books, and helped start three church-plants. He is best known for his two-time Grammy A ...

for the song "10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)". The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

) awarded "One Thing Remains" the No. 1 song for ASCAP Christian Music as well as the No. 1 Radio Single in 2013. According to Renewing Worship, "One Thing Remains" was also ranked No. 22 in The Top 100 Worship Songs of 2013 from PraiseCharts list. '' Tides Live'', a live rendition of its successful studio release, was released by Bethel Music in February 2014, with Johnson performing the same songs as he did on ''Tides''. In December 2014, Bethel Music made announcements concerning the release of '' We Will Not Be Shaken'', their seventh live album, to be released on January 27, 2015. Brian Johnson was featured on two songs in the album, "We Will Not Be Shaken" and "Seas of Crimson", and also featured on the concert film, ''We Will Not Be Shaken'', as a worship leader, with the film having been recorded at a mountaintop overlooking Shasta Lake in California. With the concert film having been premiered on Facebook for free ahead of the album's release, the song "We Will Not Be Shaken" was one of two songs made available for download upon preorder and was the most sold recording in Christian & Gospel Songs, peaking at No. 28 on ''Billboard''s

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 and at No. 32 on the ''Billboard''s Christian Digital Songs Sales chart as of February 14, 2015. 30,000 copies of the album were sold in its debut week, with an additional 24,794 singles being sold too, leading the album to the top of the ''Billboard''s

Chart and peaking at No. 12 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 while topping the UK's

Official Christian & Gospel Albums Chart The Official Christian & Gospel Albums Chart is a music chart based on sales of albums of Contemporary Christian and gospel music in the UK. It is compiled weekly by the Official Charts Company (OCC), with each week's number one being announced ...

. In August 2015, the

Gospel Music Association The Gospel Music Association (GMA) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1964 for the purpose of supporting and promoting the development of all forms of gospel music. As of 2011, there are about 4,000 members worldwide. The GMA's membership c ...

nominated Brian Johnson alongside

, Gabriel Wilson, Jenn Johnson, Christa Black Gifford and Joel Taylor for a GMA Dove Award in the "Worship Song of the Year" category for penning the song "Forever" (credited as "Forever (We Sing Hallelujah)"), with the result to be announced at the 46th Annual GMA Dove Awards in October. However, in October 2015, the award was won by

Matt Maher Matthew Guion Maher (born November 10, 1974) is a Canadian Catholic contemporary Christian music artist, songwriter, and worship leader based in the United States. Three of his nine albums have reached the Christian Albums, Top 25 Christian Albu ...

for the song "Because He Lives (Amen)". Bethel Music held its inaugural conference, ''Heaven Come Conference'', in May 2016 at the Microsoft Theatre in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with Johnson as a speaker and worship leader at the event. The event was broadcast on

Daystar Television Network The Daystar Television Network commonly known as Daystar Television or just Daystar, is an American evangelical Christian-based religious television network owned by the Word of God Fellowship, founded by Marcus Lamb in 1993. Daystar is headqu ...

. Brian Johnson also featured on Leeland's fifth studio album, ''

Invisible Invisibility is the state of an object that cannot be seen. An object in this state is said to be ''invisible'' (literally, "not visible"). The phenomenon is studied by physics and perceptual psychology. Since objects can be seen by light fr ...

'', released in July 2016 having co-written and provided vocals for the song, "Son Was Lifted Up". In August 2016, the

announced the nominees of the 47th Annual GMA Dove Awards with Brian Johnson alongside Jonathan David Helser and Joel Case being nominated for writing the song, "

" in the "Worship Song of the Year" category. On October 11, 2016, the song won the GMA Dove Award at a ceremony held at the

Lipscomb University Lipscomb University is a Private university, private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. It is affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The campus is located in the Green Hills, Nashville, Tennessee, Green Hills neighborho ...

Allen Arena Allen Arena is an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. The arena was named in honor of James C. and Linda Allen, the facility's primary benefactors. James Allen is a member of the board of trustees for the university and ...

, with Jonathan David & Melissa Helser performing the song that night. On January 13, 2017, Brian & Jenn Johnson announced the release of '' After All These Years'', the duo's first album containing new songs in over a decade since the live LP release ''We Believe'' in 2006, was slated for January 27. ''After All These Years'' made its debut on ''Billboard''

chart at No. 1 with 16,000 equivalent album units sold as of February 8, 2017. The album also registered on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...

at No. 21 and at No. 32 on the

Canadian Albums The Canadian music charts are a collection of record charts reflecting the music consumption of people in Canada. ''RPM'' and ''Billboard'' are the biggest publications to have published Canada's official charts for decades. However, the first Can ...

chart. Brian Johnson had an interview with Sharefaith Magazine about the album and his worship ministry. Brian Johnson, together with Joel Taylor and Jenn Johnson, received a certificate of recognition from the Redding City Council as the founders and representatives of the record label,

, for its success at the 47th Annual GMA Dove Awards held in

in 2016, having won five awards from nine nominations.

Personal life

Brian Johnson married Jennifer Louise Johnson (née Rock) in 2000. The couple has two daughters, Haley and Téa, as well as one biological son, Braden, and two adopted sons, Ryder and Malachi. The family resides on a farm in Redding, California.

Discography

As a solo artist

As Brian & Jenn Johnson

As a featured artist

As personnel

Filmography

* ''We Will Not Be Shaken'' (2015) — as himself

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Brian Johnson's profile
on Bethel Church's website {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Brian 1978 births Living people 20th-century Protestants 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century Protestants American Charismatics American male singer-songwriters American performers of Christian music Composers of Christian music Christian music songwriters Musicians from Redding, California Performers of contemporary worship music Singer-songwriters from California