Hilary Weeks (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'', Novakovich; born March 7, 1970) is an American

Christian music Christian music is a genre of music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christianity, Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence and lament, and its f ...

ian and

Latter-Day Saint The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded b ...

singer, who primarily plays a

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity or God. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition of a God. An act of worship may be performed individually, in an informal or formal group, ...

and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

music version of

Christian country A Christian state is a country that recognizes a form of Christianity as its official religion and often has a state church (also called an established church), which is a Christian denomination that supports the government and is supported by ...

and

Christian pop Contemporary Christian music (CCM), also known as 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 Christian faith a ...

. She has released ten musical works, with eight of those being

studio albums An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

, ''He Hears Me'' (1996), ''Lead Me Home'' (1998) and ''I Will Not Forget'' (2000), ''Day of Praise'' (2004), ''If I Only Had Today'' (2008), ''Every Step'' (2011), ''Say Love'' (2013), ''Say Love'' (2013), and, ''Love Your Life'' (2016), while she released two holiday albums, ''Christmastime'' (2006) and ''Christmas Once Again'' (2009). Her last four musical works charted on various ''Billboard'' magazine charts.

Early life

Weeks was born Hilary Novakovich, on March 7, 1970, in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, while she was raised in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. She graduated from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

with her baccalaureate of

arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

in 1993 from their music department.

Music career

Her music recording career started in 1996, with the

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, ''He Hears Me'', that was released by

Deseret Book Deseret Book () is an American publishing company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, that also operates a chain of bookstores throughout the western United States. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation (DMC), th ...

. She then went onto release four more studio albums, ''Lead Me Home'' in 1998, ''I Will Not Forget'' in 2000, ''Day of Praise'' in 2004, ''If I Only Had Today'' on September 17, 2008. While her next two albums, ''Every Step'' and ''Say Love'', released on October 25, 2011 and September 9, 2013, correspondingly, while they charted each on three ''Billboard'' magazine charts, The ''Billboard'' 200 at Nos. 102 and 161, respectively,

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 ...

at Nos. 6 and 9, correspondingly, and

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' mag ...

at Nos. 23 and 30, respectively. She was the first Mormon to have an album peak in the Top-10 of the Christian Albums chart. The eighth studio album, ''Love Your Life'', was released on September 16, 2016, and it charted on the Christian Albums chart at No. 7, and Independent Albums chart at No. 24. She has released two holiday albums, ''Christmastime'', on November 7, 2006, and her most commercially successful one, ''Christmas Once Again'', on October 13, 2009, where it peaked at Nos. 26 and 40 on the Holiday Albums and

Heatseekers Albums The Heatseekers charts were "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 b ...

charts.

Personal life

She is married to Timothy Weeks, and they have four daughters, residing in

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. Weeks was called by ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' one of the "'40 Women to Watch Over 40,'" .

Discography

Studio albums Holiday albums

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weeks, Hilary 1970 births Living people American Latter Day Saints Musicians from Alaska Musicians from Colorado Musicians from Utah Songwriters from Alaska Songwriters from Colorado Songwriters from Utah Brigham Young University alumni