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Hillsong United began as the youth ministry band of Sydney, Australia's Hillsong Church. Originally dubbed United Live, the group was first led by singer/songwriters Reuben Morgan and Marty Sampson. Their 1999 debut, Everyday, established their creative template: each album was recorded live at the annual October youth conference Encounterfest -- enabling contributions from a variety of church members, friends, and supporters, including the popular Christian folk chanteuse Brooke Fraser -- and released on CD and DVD early the following year. When Morgan left United Live in 2002 to mount a solo career, Joel Houston took his place, prompting the name change to Hillsong United.

In the years to follow, their popularity snowballed on both sides of the equator, with 2006's United We Stand emerging as the year's best-selling Christian LP at Canadian retail. All of the Above found similar success in 2007, as did 2009's a_CROSS//the_EARTH: Tear Down the Walls and its accompanying live album, Faith + Hope + Love. The CD/DVD set We're All in This Together showed up in 2011, with the double-disc Live in Miami: Welcome to the Aftermath arriving a year later.

In 2013, the group released Zion, their third studio album proper. It became their first Australian number one, and also hit the Top Five of the Billboard 200 in the U.S. Organic versions of the album's songs landed on the EP Zion Acoustic Sessions later that year, while 2014 saw the group offer something more dancefloor-oriented with The White Album: Remix Project. The year 2015 brought the full-length Empires, which returned them to the number one spot at home. The live LP Of Dirt and Grace: Live from the Land followed in 2016. The group later headed to Los Angeles to record their fifth studio record. Wonder was released in 2017, and featured worship leaders Joel Houston and Matt Crocker delivering a collection of uplifting and inspirational pop- and rock-infused tracks. Another live effort, People, arrived two years later. ~ Jason Ankeny & Steve Leggett

Taya is a singer, songwriter, and worship leader for Hillsong United who was a church youth group leader before embarking on a music career in the early 2010s. She found success after contributing vocals to the Hillsong United track "Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)," which took home the Song of the Year trophy at the 2014 GMA Dove Awards. Along with contributions to Hillsong projects that have followed, Taya released her self-titled debut solo album in 2022. Her second studio album, featuring the streaming hit "Gonna Be Good," appeared in 2024.

Hailing from the north country town of Lismore, New South Wales, Taya Gaukrodger (née Smith) relocated to Sydney in 2010 to pursue a career in the creative arts. She soon became involved with Hillsong Church, and later joined the church's immensely popular and prolific worship band Hillsong United. She made her debut on the group's gold-selling third studio LP, 2013's Zion, which included the chart-topping single "Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)." Two years later, Taya appeared on another of the group's biggest singles, "Touch the Sky," taken from their fourth full-length effort Empires. She continued to play a vital role in the worship band's success, appearing on 2017's Wonder and live offerings like Of Dirt and Grace: Live from the Land (2017) and People (2019). In early 2022, she made her solo debut with the contemporary country-tinged "For All My Life," which she co-wrote with producers Jon Guerra and Hank Bentley. That song, along with 13 inspirational other tracks, appeared on her eponymous first full-length effort later that June. Early 2024 saw the release of the upbeat pop single "Gonna Be Good," the lead track from Taya's forthcoming sophomore long-player. ~ James Christopher Monger