Hillsong Worship
AKA: Hillsong, Hillsong Live
Hillsong Worship is currently the the official moniker for the worship music ministry of Hillsong Church. Since the late 1980s, the group has gone been presented by different names, including Hillsongs, Hillsongs Australia, Hillsong Music Australia and simply Hillsong. For a period, the live worship albums were released with the heading “Hillsong Live,” which was not really a name for the group, but rather a series or description of the album category. The group is is composed solely of members of the church’s music ministry, which includes members of Hillsong Young & Free, UNITED, and other members of the church.
The group was born along with the foundation of Hills Christian Life Centre in Sydney, Australia by Brian and Bobbie Houston in 1983, with the music team being led by Geoff Bullock in collaboration with other team members, including Darlene Zschech, Russell Fragar, David Moyse, Ian and Lucy Fisher. The first two official Hillsong albums – Spirit & Truth (1988), and Show Your Glory (1990) were studio recordings released by The Fire Label and Heartland Records, followed by a long series of annual live albums, beginning with The Power of Your Love in 1992. Hillsong’s music began attracting attention around Australia and eventually other markets as Geoff Bullock’s songs (such as “The Heavens Shall Declare”, “Blessing, Honour”, and “The Power Of Your Love”) gained prominence amongst the international worship community. Hillsong’s breakout album “Shout To The Lord” was released by Integrity’s Hosanna! Music in 1996, becoming one of the fastest and best selling worship albums up to that point, reaching No. 13 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Christian Albums Charts. This was their first album to break into the American music market, achieving Gold-certified status in the U.S. From there, the church continued to release annual live albums, as well as studio projects (including the Simply Worship album series). As a ministry rather than a traditional band, the album personnel have changed over the years as new members from the team have been featured. Many members of the Hillsong worship team have gone on to successful music careers aside from their participation with the church.
The group began releasing their albums under the moniker “Hillsong Worship” upon the release of their highly anticipated live recording No Other Name in 2014. Although they had previously recorded two other albums during Hillsong Conference – [Shout To The Lord 2000] (
) (aka Shout To The Lord 2) and [(UP) Unified:Praise] (), this release was significant as it was the first album within their regular live series to be recorded during the conference – a tradition that would continue for their succeeding albums.Hit songs from the group include Mighty To Save, Cornerstone, Broken Vessels (Amazing Grace), What A Beautiful Name, Who You Say I Am and more.