Biography
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Born
5 April 1984 (age 40)
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Born In
San Diego, San Diego County, California, United States
Phil Wickham is a Contemporary Christian music vocalist/songwriter and guitarist from California. Since 2003, Phil has launched more than a dozen releases, including: Give You My World (2003), a self-titled album (2006), Cannons (2007), Singalong(2008), Heaven and Earth(2009), Response(2011), Singalong 2 (2012), The Ascension (2013), Singalong 3 (2015), Children of God (2016), Living Hope (2018), Hymn of Heaven (2021) and I Believe (2023).
Born in Orange County, Phil Wickham is the son of the well-known worship leader John Wickham. His musical journey began when he moved to San Diego during junior high school, a pivotal moment that would shape his career. At the age of 12, Phil’s youth pastor asked him to lead worship, a role he accepted with encouragement from his father, who was then a worship pastor at Chuck Smith’s Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.
By the time he turned 18, Phil had already released his debut CD, "Give You My World" (2003), which included the hit song "Shining." The positive reception surprised him, prompting him to work on twelve new songs for his self-titled album. On April 25, 2006, the self-titled album was released under Simple Records.
His second release with Simple/INO Records, "Cannons" (2007), drew inspiration from cannon explosions and C.S. Lewis’s book, "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" from The Chronicles of Narnia series. In an interview with ChristianityToday.com, Phil described the album as "about how the universe is exploding with the glory of God, and how we are compelled to join in with its song." Notably, the 10th track from "Cannons," "Jesus Lord of Heaven," has been translated into seven different languages.
In 2008, Phil released a live worship album titled "Singalong," recorded at Solid Rock Church in Portland, Oregon, with 3000 fans present. The album was offered as a free download exclusively from his website and received over 8,000 downloads within a week of its release. After the release of the "Singalong" album, his self-titled debut climbed to No. 25 on the iTunes Top Christian Albums chart, two years after its initial release.
Recent Success and Chart-Topping Hits:
In February 2016, Wickham released the first single, "Your Love Awakens Me", from his album, "Children of God", which was released later that year.
"Living Hope", Wickham's seventh full-length studio project, was released in August 2018. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Christian Albums chart, his first album to do so.
In June 2021, Wickham's eighth studio album "Hymn of Heaven" was released. Featuring a guest appearance by Brandon Lake, its releases included "Battle Belongs" (No. 2 on the Hot Christian Songs chart), "House of the Lord" (No. 1) and "Hymn of Heaven" (No. 2), along with It's Always Been You released as a promotional single. Debuting at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Christian Albums Chart in the United States, it also entered at No. 6 on the Official Charts' Official Christian & Gospel Albums Chart in the United Kingdom.
At the 2021 GMA Dove Awards, "Battle Belongs" was nominated for the GMA Dove Award for Worship Recorded Song of the Year. The album was nominated for the Billboard Music Award for Top Christian Album at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards. At the 2022 GMA Dove Awards, Hymn of Heaven won the GMA Dove Award for Worship Album of the Year, the title track won the GMA Dove Award for Worship Recorded Song of the Year, and "House of the Lord" was nominated for two GMA Dove Awards: Song of the Year and Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year.
In January 2023, Phil Wickham achieved remarkable success when his song "This Is Our God" topped three different Billboard’s Christian charts. The track was part of his ninth studio album titled "I Believe," which became Wickham’s third consecutive Christian chart-topper, solidifying his impact on the contemporary Christian music scene.
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