Moriah Smallbone (born Moriah Castillo Peters, October 2, 1992) is an American actress, and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

country artist from

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 ...

. She previously worked under the name "Moriah Peters"; she is a singer and songwriter born in

Pomona, California Pomona ( ) is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population was ...

who grew up in

Chino, California Chino ( ; Spanish for "Curly") is a city in the western end of San Bernardino County, California, United States, with Los Angeles County to its west and Orange County to its south in the Southern California region. Chino's surroundings ha ...

and

Ontario, California Ontario is a city in southwestern San Bernardino County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire metropolitan area, it lies ...

. Since 2023, she has been a cast member of the streaming television series, '' The Chosen'', portraying

Bathsheba Bathsheba (; , ) was an Kings of Israel and Judah, Israelite queen consort. According to the Hebrew Bible, she was the wife of Uriah the Hittite and later of David, with whom she had all of her five children. Her status as the mother of Solomon ...

, one of the wives of

King David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damas ...

Early life

Moriah Castillo Peters was born on October 2, 1992, in

. Her father is

Los Angeles Superior Court The Superior Court of Los Angeles County is the California Superior Court located in Los Angeles County. It is the largest single unified trial court in the United States. The Superior Court operates 36 courthouses throughout the county. Curr ...

Judge Anthony Moreno Peters and her mother is Patricia Castillo Peters; she has an older sister named Bianca and a younger brother, Anthony Ezra. Smallbone grew up in the California inland cities of Chino and Ontario. Smallbone started writing songs at the age of 13 and played the guitar since she was young. Smallbone "had dedicated herself to the leadership of God at the age of 14 and can still remember her heart's genuine prayer of, 'God, I just want to be used by you.'" Smallbone attended Don Antonio Lugo High School in Chino and achieved a 4.1

grade point average Grading in education is the application of standardized Measurement, measurements to evaluate different levels of student achievement in a course. Grades can be expressed as letters (usually A to F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), percentage ...

which earned her a scholarship to Cal State-Fullerton. She planned to use the scholarship for law school with the end goal of becoming an entertainment lawyer. However, she felt compelled by God to become a Christian singer. She was initially uncomfortable about her "froggy" voice, but after hearing Jaci Velasquez, she never felt that way about her voice again. McKay compared her voice to that of

Natalie Grant Natalie Diane Grant (born December 21, 1971) is an American singer and songwriter of contemporary Christian music. She received the Gospel Music Association's Dove Award for Female Vocalist of the Year four consecutive years, 2006–2009, and ...

and

Nichole Nordeman Nichole Ellyse Nordeman (born January 3, 1972) is an American contemporary Christian singer and songwriter. Biography Nordeman was raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she played the piano in church. She got her start when she entered a ...

. Because her dad is a jazz bass player, her musical influences are varied and include

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

and

Steely Dan Steely Dan is an American rock band formed in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, in 1971 by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Originally having a traditional band lineup, Becker and Fagen cho ...

Career

Smallbone auditioned for ''

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 ...

'', but the judges—Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, and Avril Lavigne—were harsh to her because of her wholesome image, telling her to experience life ("kiss a boy") before entering the music industry. Smallbone had a 'no kissing' rule and believed in waiting for marriage to kiss anyone. Touched by the values she portrayed at the audition, a random stranger introduced Smallbone to Wendi Foy, who helped her make a three-song demo to market to record labels in Nashville. As a result, Smallbone joined

Reunion Records Reunion Records is a contemporary Christian record label based in Brentwood, Tennessee, that operates under the Provident Label Group. It was founded in 1982 by Dan Harrell and Mike Blanton. History The label was formed by Amy Grant's manager ...

on August 11, 2011. On April 17, 2012, Smallbone released the album '' I Choose Jesus''. Smallbone was the singing voice of Vanna Banana on the ''

VeggieTales ''VeggieTales'' is an American Christian media, Christian Computer animated, CGI-animated series and multimedia franchise created by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki under Big Idea Entertainment. The series stars Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumb ...

'' movie '' Princess and the Popstar''. During the writing phase of the '' I Choose Jesus'' album project Smallbone wrote 50 songs. Her inspiration for the album came from a myriad of places "including her family, her own relationship with

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

and experiences she's walked through with other young girls while leading her high school Bible study." Her second album, ''

Brave Brave(s) or The Brave(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Brave, an adjective for one who possesses courage * Braves (Native Americans), a Euro-American stereotype for Native American warriors Film and television * ''Brave'' (1994 film), a concept ...

'', was released July 15, 2014. " You Carry Me" was the lead single from the album. She appeared in her first film, ''Because of Gracia'', that was released in 2017. She played

Loyce Whiteman Loyce Whiteman (1913–1989), also known as Lois Whiteman, was an American popular singer. Biography Born in Dallas, Texas, and raised in Glendale, California, where she attended Glendale High School. She got her start in a singing contest and w ...

in the film '' Reagan''. In 2023, Smallbone was cast as Queen Bathsheba, the wife of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, in the streaming television series, '' The Chosen''. She has appeared in two episodes, one in the final episode of Season 3 and in the third episode of Season 4.

Personal life

Smallbone is of Mexican-French heritage. Smallbone married Joel Smallbone, from the band for King & Country, on July 7, 2013. They live in Nashville. Though she previously worked under her maiden name "Moriah Peters", Moriah only uses her husband's surname.

Tours

Smallbone was on '' The Hurt & The Healer'' tour with

MercyMe MercyMe is an American contemporary Christian music band founded in Edmond, Oklahoma. The band consists of lead vocalist Bart Millard, percussionist Robby Shaffer, bassist Nathan Cochran, and guitarists Michael Scheuchzer and Barry Graul. The b ...

and fellow artist

Chris August Christopher August Megert (born March 20, 1982), known professionally as Chris August, is an American Contemporary Christian musician. August began recording as a secular musician before switching to Christian music. His song " Starry Night" rea ...

, where she was the opening act for the two. Smallbone also toured with

Tenth Avenue North Tenth Avenue North is an American contemporary Christian music band from West Palm Beach, Florida. The band released a total of fifteen original music projects, including eight full-length studio albums (six of which reached the Billboard 200, i ...

Audrey Assad Audrey Nicole Assad (born July 1, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter. She has released six studio albums and four extended plays, EPs. Early life Audrey Assad's mother was from Virginia and her father is a Christian Syrian American, Syrian- ...

, and Rend Collective Experiment in 2012 and 2013, during the "Struggle Tour". In August 2014 she was on the Air1 Positive Hits Tour.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Featured performer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Moriah 1992 births Living people 21st-century American singers 21st-century Christians American performers of Christian music Grand Canyon University alumni People from Chino, California Reunion Records artists Singers from California Songwriters from California 21st-century American women singers