Chris Tomlin Bio - Biography

Name Chris Tomlin
Height
Naionality American
Date of Birth May 4, 1972
Place of Birth Grand Saline, Texas, United States
Famous for
Tomlin received his first guitar from his father, Connie, at the age of eleven after contracting a case of mono. Then, Tomlin wrote his first worship song at age fourteen. He entered college planning to study medicine, but he stated that he felt God's calling to something else and did not pursue that career.

In the mid-1990's Tomlin spent time leading worship at the Dawson McAllister Youth Conferences, as well as at various camps around the state of Texas.

Following college, at Texas A&M University Tomlin continued to play and write songs, and in 1997, Louie Giglio asked if he would be interested in working with the Passion Conferences. Tomlin agreed, and he has played a key role ever since. His first nationally released solo project, entitled The Noise We Make, was released in 2001, which saw the emergence of songs "Forever" (his most famous song other than "How Great Is Our God"), "Be Glorified", and "Kindness", all of which made the top 200 in the CCLI 2005 top 500 worship songs. Since then, he has released many more studio albums, most notably Arriving, which is considered his breakout album, since it produced four number one hits ("Indescribable", "Holy Is the Lord," "How Great Is Our God," and "The Way I Was Made"), and two other songs ("On Our Side" and "Mighty is the Power of the Cross", written with Shawn Craig of Phillips, Craig, and Dean) which landed in the 2005 top five hundred worship songs according to Christian Copyright Licensing International. His last, See the Morning, has been nominated for two Grammy Awards and has helped him win 6 Dove Awards in 2007, including a second consecutive "Artist of the Year" win.

Although a solo artist, Tomlin travels around with a consistent band lineup. His band, in which he performs vocals, acoustic guitar, and piano, consists of Daniel Carson (electric guitar, backup vocals), Jesse Reeves (bass guitar, harmonica, backup vocals, co-songwriter), and Travis Nunn (drums, loops). The latter replaced Joey Parrish as drummer in 2004. Although not considered an "official" band member, Matt Gilder regularly plays the keys for Tomlin. Tomlin and the band developed while working with the Harvest Ministry at The Woodlands United Methodist Church in The Woodlands, Texas in the late 1990's.

According to Christian Copyright Licensing International's list of the top 25 worship songs in the United States as of August 2007, Tomlin held 5 spots with songs he has either written or co-written with other songwriters: "How Great Is Our God" (#1), "Forever" (#5), "Holy Is the Lord" (#7), "We Fall Down" (#12),and "Indescribable" (#22).

Tomlin has toured with several prominent acts in the Christian Contemporary Music, such as touring as a support act of Delirious? during his first ever tour, and as a support act of Steven Curtis Chapman during his All Things New Tour. Tomlin has also headlined several tours, such as headlining the Chris Tomlin Indescribable Tour, which featured world renowned worship artist Matt Redman, and prominent speaker Louie Giglio, and headlining the See the Morning Tour. As of April 2007, Tomlin is touring on his "How Great Is Our God" tour with Louie Giglio and Matt Redman, which recently was extended until October.

On May 31, 2007, Chris Tomlin returned home to Grand Saline, Texas, to play a free show during their annual Salt Festival.

On June 14, 2007, Tomlin's song "Indescribable" was used as the official wake-up call for Mission Specialist Patrick Forrester on Space Shuttle mission STS-117.

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