Elevation Worship

Elevation Worship hail from the South, the birthplace of American gospel music, but their thoroughly 21st-century sound represents a radical break with that tradition. In the late 2000s, praise & worship was rapidly modernising, and the band, nurturing their talents at the then recently founded Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, stepped into this current with youth-driven music that has built on the progressive work laid down by Hillsong UNITED and Bethel Music. For young Christians growing up in an age when any style of music can be accessed via smartphone, Elevation Worship’s ability to draw from an array of sounds—a talent that came into its own with the release of 2017’s There Is a Cloud—is especially appealing. The live anthems “O Come to the Altar” and “Do It Again” are expansive rockers showcasing rippling vocals and lyrics that balance scriptural accuracy with universal messaging. In the studio, the band create uplifting Christian pop that employs hip-hop beats and EDM synthesisers, a versatility woven into Elevation Worship’s core mission by its songwriting team (anchored by Pastor Steven Furtick and worship leader Chris Brown), who emphasise collective participation when composing. This philosophy also informs their openness to working with artists outside their church, a practice mirroring the modern trend among secular pop artists who cut across genre boundaries to collaborate. When Elevation Worship teamed up with CCM singers Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes for the 2020 single “The Blessing”, it didn’t just become another big hit for the band; it also exemplifies how Elevation Worship helps to refresh praise & worship by blending it with other Christian genres.