Kari Brooke Jobe (born April 6, 1981) is an American

contemporary Christian music 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 Christianity, Chri ...

singer and

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

. Since her first album in 2009, she has received two

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nominations and ten

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

nominations, six of which she won.

Early life

Kari Jobe was born on April 6, 1981, in

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and Interstate 35, I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin, Texas, Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 popul ...

, to parents Mark and Caroline "Sandy" (née Bragg) Jobe. She was raised in Watauga and

Hurst, Texas Hurst is a city in the United States, U.S. state of Texas located in the densely populated portion of northeastern Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County and is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. It i ...

, both suburbs of

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

. She has two siblings, Kristen and Caleb. Jobe began singing at the age of three and became a Christian at the age of five. After studying at

Oral Roberts University Oral Roberts University (ORU) is a Private university, private Evangelicalism, evangelical university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1963, the university is named after its founder, Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christian preacher Oral ...

and Christ for the Nations Institute, she transferred to

Dallas Baptist University Dallas Baptist University (DBU) is a private Baptist university in Dallas, Texas. Founded in 1898 as Decatur Baptist College, Dallas Baptist University currently operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Hurst. It is affiliated with the Baptist ...

, where she earned degrees in pastoral studies and psychology. She became known with the successes "Revelation Song" and "Holy Spirit" released in 2009. After graduation, Jobe accepted an invitation to serve as associate worship pastor at Gateway Church in

Southlake, Texas Southlake is a city located predominantly in Tarrant County with minor areas extending into Denton County in the U.S. state of Texas. Southlake is a suburb of Dallas/Fort Worth. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 31,265. History ...

, which she had been attending for six years. She worked alongside her father, Mark, who serves as campus pastor of Gateway's flagship campus in Southlake. She has traveled internationally on mission trips to lead worship. Jobe was also a member of

Gateway Worship Gateway Worship is an American Christian worship band from Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. The team leads worship at Gateway Church, a 39,000 member congregation located in Southlake, Texas, which has grown quickly since the church's beginnings in 2 ...

, a Christian worship band associated with Gateway Church. The group's live album, ''Wake Up the World'', debuted at No. 2 on ''Billboards Christian Albums chart in 2008. In addition to acting as a worship leader and pastor, Jobe released her first major-label album in February 2009 on the

Integrity Music Integrity Music is part of the David C. Cook nonprofit group. Founded as a direct-to-consumer music club in 1987 as ''Integrity Music'', Integrity was at the forefront of contemporary worship music's widespread popularity of praise and worshi ...

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

/Gateway Create label.

Career

2009–2011: ''Kari Jobe'' and ''Le Canto''

Jobe released her self-titled debut album on February 10, 2009. The album charted at No. 67 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and No. 3 on ''Billboards Christian music chart. A Spanish-language version of the album was released under the name '' Le Canto''. The album ''Le Canto'' won a

in the category, Spanish Album of the Year at the

41st GMA Dove Awards The 41st Annual GMA Dove Awards presentation was held on April 21, 2010 recognizing accomplishments of musicians for the year 2009. The show was held at The Opry Entertainment Complex in Nashville, Tennessee, and was hosted by Bart Millard. Nom ...

. Prior to releasing ''Kari Jobe'', Jobe had released a live worship album called ''Throneroom Worship: Live Acoustic Worship'' and a Christmas album called ''Bethlehem''. From her self-titled album, " I'm Singing" debuted at No. 13 on ''Billboards Christian singles chart. Jobe's second single, "Healer", was released in 2009 and debuted at No. 33 on Billboard's Soft A/C chart. She released the single "Adore Him" in 2009, which appeared as part of Integrity Music's compilation album ''Worship and Adore: A Christmas Offering''. She won two

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 ...

for Special Event Album of the Year and Spanish Language album and was nominated for New Artist of the Year. In 2011, Jobe signed with EMI CMG Sparrow Records.

2012–2017: ''Where I Find You'', ''Majestic'' and ''Majestic Revisited''

Jobe released her second recording project, '' Where I Find You'', on January 24, 2012. The album debuted at No. 75 on the

Canadian Albums Chart The ''Billboard'' Canadian Albums is the official record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given ...

. The album also debuted at No. 10 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 ...

''. Kari released the album ''Where I Find You'' in Spanish called '' Donde Te Encuentro'', her second album released on January 24, 2012. The album debuted at No. 6 on ''Billboard'''s

Latin Pop Albums The '' Billboard'' Latin pop charts began in 1985 when an album chart were introduced as Latin Pop Albums in the June 29 issue of the magazine. In October 1994, ''Billboard'' then established Latin Pop Airplay, which initially rank the most-played ...

chart and at No. 19 on

Top Latin Albums Top Latin Albums (formerly Latin 50) is a record chart published by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' magazine and is labeled as the most important music chart for Spanish language, full-length albums in the United States, American music market. ...

. Jobe later released her first EP, ''The Acoustic Sessions (Live)'', later that year. Jobe received her first

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nomination for ''Where I Find You'' as Best Contemporary Christian Album in 2012. In May 2013, Jobe competed in season two of GSN's ''

The American Bible Challenge ''The American Bible Challenge'' is an American biblical-themed television game show created by Game Show Network. The series is hosted by comedian Jeff Foxworthy, with gospel musician Kirk Franklin joining Foxworthy as co-host and announcer in ...

'', along with Sheila Walsh and author Lisa Harper. Their charity was

The A21 Campaign The A21 Campaign (commonly referred to as "A21") is a global 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-governmental organization that works to fight human trafficking, including sexual exploitation and trafficking, forced slave labor, bonded labor, involuntary do ...

, an anti-trafficking organization that aims to abolish slavery. Jobe announced the recording of a live worship album that was recorded on November 20 and 21, 2013, at the Majestic Theater in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. '' Majestic'' was released on March 25, 2014, preceded by its first single "Forever" on February 18. '' Majestic: Revisited'' was released on September 25, 2015. The album included songs from ''Majestic'' rerecorded in the studio with a different style.

2017–present: ''The Garden'' and ''The Blessing''

"The Cause of Christ" was released on November 4, 2016, as the lead single from her fourth studio album, '' The Garden''. Three other singles: "Heal Our Land", "Fall Afresh" and "The Garden" were released before the album's release on February 3, 2017. In March 2020, Jobe recorded " The Blessing" with

Elevation Worship Elevation Worship is a contemporary worship music collective from Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. The collective leads worship in weekend church services at Elevation Church, as well as performing concerts and tours around the Un ...

and her husband

Cody Carnes Cody Jay Carnes is an American contemporary Christian music singer, songwriter and worship pastor. Carnes launched his solo music career in 2017 after signing with Capitol Christian Music Group, with the release of his debut studio album, '' ...

Elevation Church Elevation Church is an Evangelical non-denominational multi-site megachurch based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Weekly church attendance was 17,061 people in 2024. Elevation has 20 locations. Its senior pastors are Steven Furtick and Holly Furti ...

. She co-wrote the song with Carnes, pastor

Steven Furtick Larry Stevens Furtick Jr. (born February 19, 1980), known professionally as Steven Furtick, is an American evangelical Christian pastor, author, and composer of Elevation Worship. He is the founder and general overseer of Elevation Church, base ...

and Chris Brown of Elevation Worship. The live recording was uploaded to YouTube on March 6, received 103 million views as of April 2024, and the song was streamed 57 million times in six months. In September 2020, Jobe announced the release of her second live album, '' The Blessing'', along with releasing "First Love", "Embers" and "Obsession" as singles from the album, as well as including "The Blessing". The album, recorded at The Belonging Co church in

Nashville 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 ...

, was released on October 23 through

Capitol CMG Capitol Christian Music Group (Capitol CMG) (formerly known as EMI Christian Music Group) is an American music group that, since 2013, is under the ownership of Universal Music Group. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, the label is in the Christian ...

. ''The Blessing'' peaked at No. 3 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

Top 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 ...

and No. 7 on the Christian albums chart in the UK.

Personal life

In August 2014, Jobe confirmed via Instagram that she became engaged to fellow Gateway Worship artist

. The two married on November 21, 2014. On the red carpet at the Dove Awards 2015, Jobe announced she and her husband were expecting a son. Jobe announced in June 2018 that she and her husband were expecting their second child, who was born on February 1, 2019. In December 2019, the couple visited the White House and prayed with President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. They also appeared in a video praising certain policies of the Trump administration. In response to criticism about the visit, the pair said, "We didn't know that we were going to take a picture in the

Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the president of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval room has three lar ...

or know they were going to post it. I didn't know they were going to use a video interview that we did talking about how amazing it was to be in a White House leading worship."

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Others

EPs

Singles

Compilation with Gateway Worship

* 2005: ''Kari Jobe''

Appearances on other albums

* 2009: "Revelation Song" (Spanish version) with

Danilo Montero Luis Danilo Montero (born 1 November 1962) is a Costa Rican contemporary Christian music singer, author, and pastor, who is pastor of Lakewood Church's Spanish-speaking congregation. Biography Born on 1 November 1962, in San Jose, Costa Rica, ...

on ''Devoción'' * 2010: "Whom Shall I Fear" with

Lincoln Brewster Lincoln Brewster (born July 30, 1971) is an American contemporary Christian musician and worship pastor. As a guitarist, singer, and songwriter, Brewster became a sought-after session guitarist in the early 1990s. He is the former senior worship ...

on ''

Real Life Real life is a phrase used originally in literature to distinguish between the real world and fictional, virtual or idealized worlds, and in acting to distinguish between actors and the Character (arts), characters they portray. It has become a ...

'' * 2011: "You are For Me" with

C3 Church Global C3 Church Global, formerly known as Christian City Church International (C3i), is a charismatic movement founded by Phil Pringle and Christine Pringle. The first church was started in Dee Why on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia, and is n ...

* 2011: "Yahweh" and "Amazed (Obsession)" with

Desperation Band Desperation Band is a worship band led by Jon Egan, and part of the worship ministry of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The band has been featured on the main stage at Creation East and Kingdom Bound, and has led worship in the ...

on ''UPDATE:LIVE * 2011: "Wondrous Love" with

Aaron Shust Aaron Michael Shust (born October 31, 1975) is an American contemporary Christian music artist formerly on the Brash Music and Centricity Music labels, and now on his own label. Shust was named the Songwriter of the Year at the GMA Dove Awards o ...

on ''

This Is What We Believe ''This Is What We Believe'' is the fourth studio album from Christian musician Aaron Shust. It was released on August 23, 2011 by Centricity Music label. Track listing Videos Shust released a video of the single "My Hope Is in You". Perso ...

'' * 2012: "Love Wins" with

Jason Crabb Jason Crabb (born March 3, 1977) is a 2-time GRAMMY® Award-Winning Christian music singer and musician. He was previously the lead vocalist for the group The Crabb Family.

on ''Love Is Stronger'' * 2012: "My God" with

on ''Center of It All'' * 2012: "Look Upon the Lord" with

Paul Baloche Paul Joseph Baloche Work ID No. 884337863 ISWC No. T9126089325 ( ; born on June 4, 1962) is an American Christian music artist, worship leader, and singer-songwriter. A native of Maple Shade Township, New Jersey,Price, Deborah Evans. "Higher Grou ...

on '' The Same Love'' * 2013: "Crown Him (Majesty)" with

Chris Tomlin Christopher Dwayne Tomlin (born May 4, 1972) is an American contemporary Christian music singer, songwriter, and worship leader from Grand Saline, Texas. He is signed to Universal Music Group, Universal's Capitol Christian Music Group. Some of h ...

on '' Burning Lights'' * 2013: "Yours Forever" with

Darlene Zschech Darlene Joyce Zschech (; Steinhardt; 8 September 1965) is an Australian Pentecostal Christian worship leader and singer who primarily writes praise and worship songs. Described as a pioneer of the modern worship movement, she is the former wor ...

and "Victors Crown" with Darlene Zschech and

Israel Houghton Israel Houghton (; born May 19, 1971) is an American contemporary Christian music singer, songwriter, producer, and worship leader. His worship team is credited as Israel & New Breed. Musical career Houghton produced an album by Michael Gungo ...

on ''Revealing Jesus'' * 2013: "Revelation Song" various artists on '' Passion: Let the Future Begin'' (Live) * 2014: "Forever" with

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 ...

on "You Make Me Brave: Live at the Civic" * 2014: "The One That Really Matters" with

Michael W. Smith Michael Whitaker Smith (born October 7, 1957) is an American musician who has charted in both contemporary Christian music, contemporary Christian and mainstream charts. His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when "Place in This Worl ...

on ''

Sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title that can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to ...

'' * 2014: "Broken" with

Lecrae Lecrae Devaughn Moore (born October 9, 1979) is an American Christian rapper, singer-songwriter, actor, and Record producer, recording producer and Music executive, executive. Since having begun his career in 2004, he has released ten studio alb ...

on ''Anomaly'' * 2016: "Surrendered" with

Chris Quilala Chris Quilala was born on November 22, 1982, in Redding, California. He is an American Christian musician and worship leader with the Jesus Culture band and formerly with the Bethel Music collective. He primarily plays Christian pop and contempor ...

on '' Split the Sky'' * 2017: "Til the End of Time" and "Rooms" with

on '' The Darker the Night / The Brighter the Morning''

Awards and nominations

Billboard Music Awards

!Ref. , - ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, , " The Blessing"
, , Top Christian Song , , , ,

GMA Dove Awards

, - , rowspan="3" ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, Herself , Best New Artist of the Year , , - , ''Le Canto'' , Spanish Language Album of the Year , , - , ''Glory Revealed II: The Word of God in Worship'' , Special Events Album of the Year , , - ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, ''Majestic'' , Worship Album of the Year , , - , rowspan="2" ,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, "Forever" , Song of the Year , , - , Herself , Artist of the Year , , - , rowspan="3" ,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, Herself , Contemporary Christian Artist of the Year , , - , rowspan="2" , '' The Garden'' , Worship Album of the Year , , - , Recorded Music Packaging of the Year , , - ,

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, " The Blessing"
, Worship Recorded Song of the Year , , - , rowspan="3" ,

, "The Blessing" , Song of the Year , , - , rowspan="2" , '' The Blessing'' , Worship Album of the Year , , - , Recorded Music Packaging of the Year , , -

Grammy Awards

, - ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, , ''Where I Find You'', ,

Best Contemporary Christian Music Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards to artists and producers who make the best albums in the contemporary Christian music (CCM) genre from the National Academy of Recording Arts ...

, , , - ,

, , "The Blessing"
, , Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song , , , - ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, , ''The Blessing (Live)'', ,

, ,

References

External links

*
Kari Jobe's Gateway Church biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jobe, Kari 1981 births Living people 21st-century American women singers 21st-century evangelicals American evangelicals American performers of Christian music Christian music songwriters Columbia Records artists Musicians from Waco, Texas People from Hurst, Texas People from Southlake, Texas People from Tarrant County, Texas Performers of contemporary Christian music Performers of contemporary worship music Singers from Texas Spanish-language singers of the United States Sparrow Records artists