Josh Baldwin is an American

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

singer, songwriter and

worship pastor A worship pastor usually refers to a person who ministers using contemporary worship music or other Christian music, as well as counseling and pastoring members of the church's music team and worship ministries. This is a distinct role within a ...

. A member of the Bethel Music collective, Baldwin also serves as a worship leader at Bethel Church in

Redding, California Redding is the economic and cultural capital of the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California and the county seat of Shasta County. Redding lies along the Sacramento River, north of Sacramento, and south of California's northern border ...

. Josh Baldwin starting serving as a worship leader at MorningStar Fellowship Church after attending the ministry school there. He independently released ''Changing'', his first album, in 2008. In 2010, Baldwin then joined Queen City Church in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

, serving as worship pastor. Baldwin released ''Rivers'' in 2014, earning him his first ''Billboard'' chart appearance with a placement on the US

Heatseekers Albums 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 ...

. Josh Baldwin signed with

Bethel Music Bethel Music is an American music label and worship movement from Redding, California, originating out of Bethel Church where they started making music in 2001. Bethel Music has grown from being a local church music ministry to a global outreach ...

in 2014, and moved to Redding, California to join Bethel Church. Baldwin made his first feature on a Bethel Music collective release, ''Have It All'' (2016), with the song "Praises (Be Lifted Up)". Baldwin then released ''The War Is Over'', his first solo effort with the label in mid-2017 to critical acclaim and the album debuted in the top-three sector of the American and British Christian music charts. Bethel Music and Josh Baldwin released the song " Stand in Your Love" in 2018, as the lead single to ''Victory'' (2019). The song reached the top ten of the US

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, Baldwin's first entry on the chart. It also garnered Baldwin's first nominations for the 2019 K-Love Fan Awards in the Breakout Single of the Year and Worship Song of the Year categories.

Early life

Joshua Aaron Baldwin was born on July 8, 1979, to William Baldwin, a pastor, and Kathy Baldwin in

Albemarle, North Carolina Albemarle () is a small city and the county seat of Stanly County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 15,903 in the 2010 Census. Gerald R. "Ronnie" Michael (a former police chief in the city) serves as Mayor and Albemarle has a ...

. Baldwin shared that his father was also a

worship leader 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 many w ...

and is "very much into music," and grew up playing drums for him and other worship leaders. He started leading worship and playing guitar during his high school years, learning at Albemarle High School. Baldwin, at nineteen-twenty years, was studying at

Lee University Lee University is a private Christian university in Cleveland, Tennessee. It was originally the Church of God Bible Training School, a small Bible institute founded in 1918 with twelve students and one teacher, Nora I. Chambers. The school gr ...

when he first realized that he wanted to be a worship leader after leading at a youth camp in North Carolina, thus dropping out of Lee University and enrolled at MorningStar Ministry School, attending together with John Mark McMillan and Jonathan David Helser.

Career

Josh Baldwin started his career with MorningStar in early 2008, featuring on two albums: ''Worship and Warfare, Vol. 3'' with the song "After You"; and ''Jesus Broken'' with "Love You Only". He was a part of MorningStar Fellowship Church for nine years, and he also travelled with artists Rita Springer and Suzy Yaraei working as a drummer. Baldwin served as the worship minister at MorningStar in

Wilkesboro, North Carolina Wilkesboro is a town in and the county seat of Wilkes County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,687 at the 2020 census. The town is located along the south bank of the Yadkin River, directly opposite the town of North Wilkesbor ...

. On September 3, 2008, Josh Baldwin independently released his debut album, ''Changing''. Baldwin then moved to

, to serve as worship pastor of Queen City Church. On September 17, 2013, Josh Baldwin launched a Kickstarter funding campaign to raise $12,000 for a new worship album's mixing, mastering, printing, and artwork to be completed. The campaign was a success, with 202 backers pledging $12,635, with a twenty two day period that ended on October 10, 2013. Baldwin released ''Rivers'', his sophomore album on January 28, 2014, in partnership with Watershed Music. ''Rivers'' peaked at No. 44 on the

chart issued by ''Billboard'', his first entry on a ''Billboards chart. In 2014, Baldwin went on to sign a record deal with

during a week-long visit with his wife to

after discussions with

Brian Johnson Brian Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and songwriter. In 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC. He and the rest of the band were inducted into the Rock and Ro ...

, whom he knew since meeting in 2007. On March 11, 2016, Bethel Music then released its eighth live album dubbed '' Have It All'', with Baldwin performing a live cover of his song, "Praises (Be Lifted Up)". Josh Baldwin released his first album with Bethel Music, ''The War Is Over'', on May 26, 2017. ''The War Is Over'' earned sales of 3,000 equivalent album units in its opening week, and thus debuted at No. 2 on the US

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 Luminate (formerly Niels ...

chart dated June 17, 2017, issued by '' Billboard''. The album also debuted at No. 3 on the

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 the United Kingdom. "Get Your Hopes Up" was released as the first single from the album. On July 19, 2018, Bethel Music and Josh Baldwin published the song " Stand in Your Love" on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

. They subsequently released "Stand in Your Love" on August 10, 2018, as the first single from the Bethel Music's album, ''Victory'' (2019). The single was a hit as it became his first entry on the US

chart, and peaked at No. 7. It garnered nominations for 2019 K-Love Fan Awards in the Breakout Single of the Year and Worship Song of the Year categories. On July 19, 2019, Josh Baldwin released " Let the Redeemed" as a single.

Personal life

Josh Baldwin married Sheila Strite and they have two children, Ellie and Bear.

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

* ''Live at Church (EP)'' (2020)

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Other appearances

Awards

GMA Dove Awards

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, , Josh Baldwin , , New Artist of the Year , , , - , "Stand in Your Love" , , Worship Recorded Song of the Year , ,

References

External links

* * on

* on

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baldwin, Josh 1979 births Living people Christians from California American Charismatics American male singer-songwriters American performers of Christian music Composers of Christian music People from Albemarle, North Carolina Singer-songwriters from North Carolina 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers