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Elevation Worship is a contemporary Christian worship ministry based out of North Carolina's Elevation Church. Since the late 2000s, the ensemble has produced a number of successful albums rooted in both pop and rock, but with the cinematic sweep of classical music. Best known for their passionate live recordings, Elevation Worship first topped the Christian charts with 2012's Nothing Is Wasted, a feat they would repeat three more times that decade while also becoming a mainstay of the pop charts with albums like 2015's gold-certified Here as in Heaven and 2018's Grammy Award-nominated Hallelujah Here Below. Behind platinum-selling singles like "O Come to the Altar" and "Do It Again," the group amassed a large and devoted audience that once again helped them reach number one on Billboard's Top Christian Albums chart with the 2020 release Graves into Gardens. The group earned another Grammy nomination with 2022's Lion, then enjoyed two more consecutive chart-toppers with 2023's Can You Imagine? and 2024's When Wind Meets Fire.

Elevation Worship began as the musical arm of the Elevation Church, a multi-site church based in Charlotte, North Carolina, that was founded in 2006 by pastor Steven Furtick. The group was originally formed around the musical core of Chris Brown, Mack Brock, and Wade Joye, all of whom sang and played guitar, while Furtick contributed to their songwriting. While a shifting cast of instrumentalists worked with Elevation Worship, singers, Brown and Brock would become two of their on-stage focal points and a number of other vocalists were featured, including Jenna Barrientes, Jonsal Barrientes, London Gatch, Anna Sailors, and Jane Williams.

Elevation Worship released their debut album, a live set entitled Live Worship, in 2006 through the church's own label, and three more independent releases followed -- 2007's The Sound, 2008's We Are Alive, and 2010's Kingdom Come. Kingdom Come was a breakthrough success for the group; it was their first to hit the national charts, reaching 17 on the Christian survey and 42 on the independent chart. The warm welcome given to Kingdom Come led to Kingdom Come Remix, a five-song EP featuring extended versions of selections from the album.

The group next struck a deal with Essential Records, a Christian label distributed by Sony Music, and their first release for their new label, For the Honor, came out in 2011. It peaked at 19 on the Christian album charts, while their next album, 2012's Nothing Is Wasted, was their first to rise to number one on the Christian survey. Critics and fans alike embraced 2013's Here in Heaven and 2014's Only King Forever, while Wake Up the Wonder, also issued in 2014, became Elevation Worship's second Christian chart-topper.

2016's Here as in Heaven was recorded at a worship event in Charlotte that drew a capacity crowd of 16,000 people; a track from the album, "O Come to the Altar," was released as a single, hit number two on the Christian Singles charts, and was certified gold. Here as in Heaven was also the first album Elevation released through their new Elevation Worship label, affiliated with Provident Distribution. Another live document, There Is a Cloud, appeared in March 2017, and was another number one Christian hit while also rising to 11 on the Top 200 albums listing. The album spawned a Christian hit single with "Do It Again." Five months later, Elevation Worship issued Lo Harás Otra Vez, their first Spanish-language release.

2017 was also a year of change for the group, as longstanding members Mack Brock and London Gatch both stepped away from active service. This didn't slow down Elevation Worship's mission, however; September 2018 saw the release of Hallelujah Here Below, which included two Top 30 Christian singles -- "Here Again" and "Won't Stop Now" -- and received a Grammy nomination as Best Christian Album. The five-song live EP At Midnight followed in mid-2019, as did the live album Paradoxology. Their 12th concert offering, Graves into Gardens, appeared in 2020. Featuring Brandon Lake (Bethel Music), the set debuted in the Top 40 of the Billboard 200. In January 2021, Elevation Worship offered up a sort of companion album, Graves into Gardens: Morning & Evening, which featured reworked versions and new material. Old Church Basement, a live collaborative outing with Maverick City Music, arrived later that year.

The Grammy Award-nominated Lion, released in March 2022, featured worship leaders Chris Brown, Jonsal Barrientes, Brandon Lake, Pat Barrett, Tiffany Hudson, Joe L. Barnes, and Chandler Moore. 2023's Can You Imagine? constituted the long-running collective's 15th album, again topping the Christian chart and cracking the Billboard 200. Working quickly, the prolific group returned a year later with the uplifting When Wind Meets Fire, adding yet another number one to their catalog. ~ Mark Deming

Maverick City Music is both a record label and a diverse, contemporary worship music collective. Looking to bridge the gap between CCM and contemporary gospel, the group released a pair of EPs in 2019, followed by their two-part full-length debut, Maverick City, Vol. 3, in 2020. A Spanish-language album, Como en el Cielo, arrived in 2021, followed by a chart-topping collaboration with Elevation Worship, 2021's Old Church Basement. In 2023, they issued the chart hit The Maverick Way Complete. They have also collaborated on projects with Tribl, Upperroom, Kirk Franklin, and Song House, the latter on 2024's MAVHOUSE EP.

Based in Atlanta, Georgia, and co-founded in 2018 by Tony Brown and Jonathan Jay, Maverick City Music earned a pair of Dove Award nominations for Maverick City, Vol. 3, which featured the hit singles "Promises" and "Man of Your Word." Move Your Heart, a collaborative EP with Upperoom, arrived later that year. In 2021, the group released their first Spanish-language LP, Como en el Cielo, followed by another collaboration, Old Church Basement, this time with popular North Carolina collective Elevation Worship. The latter album hit number one on the Top Christian Albums chart. Two live albums arrived in 2021 with Jubilee: Juneteenth Edition and Tribl I, a collaboration with fellow Georgia worship collective Tribl. The group's first holiday-themed record, A Very Maverick Christmas, appeared in November 2021 and reached number nine on the Top Christian Albums chart. 2022 saw the group team up with gospel superstar Kirk Franklin on the collaborative live effort Kingdom: Book One, recorded on their hit tour. The collective's next major project began a slow rollout the next year, starting with the Maverick Way EP, which later blossomed into The Maverick Way Complete. The nearly three-hour set featured more of their familiar brand of uplifting, joyous worship anthems, including "Firm Foundation (He Won't)" with Cody Carnes and "Worthy of My Song" with Phil Wickham. It also spawned the Top Ten Hot Gospel Songs single "In the Room." A collaboration with Nashville collective Song House, MAVHOUSE EP, arrived in October 2024, followed a month later by the standalone single "Constant," featuring Chandler Moore. ~ James Christopher Monger