Hillsong United (band)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Hillsong United band is an Australian
rock and worship band, a part of
Hillsong Church's youth ministry
Hillsong United. Their music is a contemporary style of praise and worship tempered with mainstream rock.
History
The band formed as close friends from within Hillsong Church's youth ministry, originally called 'Powerhouse Youth', led for many years by Donna Crouch.
As the house band for the youth meetings of Powerhouse, the band played covers of Hillsong Church and various other ministries' music, sometimes members contributing to Youth Alive and its' albums (Darlene Zschech was involved in Youth Alive before Hillsong Church).
Dr Mark Evans (Macquarie Uni) states in his Ph. D thesis, "A youth band was formed from the Hillsong music team, which took what was happening in the church musically and played it louder and rockier, appealing directly to a youth demographic".

Steve McPherson, Deb Ezzy and Donia Makedonez were significant members. Powerhouse grew and was split in the late 1990s into two youth groups, 'Powerhouse' (18-25 years of age) and 'Wildlife' (12-16 yrs).
Reuben Morgan, assisted by Marcus Beaumont and Tanya Riches were placed in charge of the Powerhouse band, with the former Channel V Leg-Up competition winner 'Able' band boys,
Joel Houston and
Marty Sampson in charge of Wildlife, while
Luke Munns was the main drummer, and
Michael Guy Chislett the main guitarist.

In the Summer of 1997, the new team made a huge impact at their youth ministry's Summer Camp. After coming back from from Summer Camp with a God full in their hearts, the many youth ministries in Hillsong Church joined together as one, and started to call the nights, "UNITED" Nights. When united, God does something powerful.
Delirious?' Martin Smith's song 'Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble' was the theme song of the camp, and the momentum of youth carried well beyond the camp into church services. Reuben Morgan wrote 'My Redeemer Lives' as a way for the youth to continue worshipping, along with many other songs that appear on the album 'By Your Side' written by
Marty Sampson and
Luke Munns 'Stay'.
Darlene Zschech suggested to Reuben that they make an album in 1998 after many songs were written in the youth ministry, and the EP 'One' was recorded. The album was packaged with the Hillsong annual album, and both achieved Gold sale status in Australia. 'Everyday' was recorded in 1999. The band continued to release an album each year, rebranding as Hillsong United in 2002 after Reuben Morgan stepped down as co-worship leader of the band.
Joel Houston, the eldest son of the church's senior pastor
Brian Houston, stepped up to lead the group together with Marty.
Current members of the Hillsong United band include Jonathon Douglass (J.D.), Jadwin "Jad" Gillies, Holly Watson, Annie Garratt, Bec Gillies, and Michelle Fragar, daughter of Russell Fragar.
Michael Guy Chislett plays guitar and Matthew Tennikoff plays
bass guitar.

Former original drummer
Luke Munns made a transition from the drums to front the rock/indie band LUKAS. Popular New Zealand artist
Brooke Fraser recently joined the band when she joined the church, first appearing on
United We Stand. The annual Hillsong United CD/DVD was recorded over many years during their October youth conference Encounterfest, with the album released in the first quarter of the following year. The 2007 album
All of the Above was the first album to be fully studio recorded, containing videos of songs on the DVD. The band has toured in a number of countries, leading worship to thousands in
North and
South America,
Europe and
Asia.

Following his marriage to Michelle on
November 2006, Marty stepped down as one of the main worship leaders of the band. He contributed two more songs with United, 'Devotion'(which he wrote & sang on the album) & 'Saviour King'(which he wrote w/ Mia Fieldes), before he officially stepped down. These songs are part of the
2007 release
All of the Above . Brooke replaced Marty as one of the principal worship leaders of the band, while Marty went on to move with the
main band to serve as one of main Hillsong worship leaders of the band, alongside Darlene and Reuben.
Success and achievements

Hillsong United's
2006 album
United We Stand was the best-selling album of 2006 in
Canada at Christian retail stores. The album
All of the Above was released on
March 17,
2007 in
Australia, where it debuted and peaked at #6 on the
ARIA Charts.
[1] In the
United States, the album was released on
May 22,
2007, selling 10,505 units in its first week. It debuted at #1 on the
Billboard Top Christian/Gospel Albums chart, #1 on
iTunes' chart of Christian music digital album sales, and #60 on the
Billboard 200.
[2] The first single released from the album, "Point of Difference", was a top ten hit on Christian radio in Australia.