Did you know that ”For King & Country” was previously called “Joel & Luke” and “Austoville”? They are an Australian Christian pop duo made up of brothers Joel who was born on June 5, 1984) and Luke Smallbone who was born on 22 October 1986.
The boys were born in Australia. When they were young, their family moved to the Nashville area and settled there.
Their life is a true story of champions, you will be amazed at how they came to be “For King & Country”.
The Beginning: For King & Country
The brothers were born in Sydney, Australia, to a music producer & manager. Their sister, Rebecca St. James, is a contemporary Christian singer/songwriter. They grew up in a musical family and moved to Nashville in 1991 when their father started a new job.
Joel and Luke sang backing vocals for Rebecca St. James when they were in high school. After Luke finished high school, he wanted to become a Christian musician and decided they wanted to start a band.
At first, people called them Joel and Luke. In 2007, the brothers’ dream came true when they began making music. Later, they changed the title of the music duo to Joel & Luke as they were still looking for the right name. When Christian musicians Joel & Luke agreed to sign to a Warner Music Group label in 2009 and Ben Glover became their producer, they chose the name “KING & COUNTRY,” which comes from a British battle cry. Luke said,
“We wanted a name for our band that meant more. Joel had the idea for All The King’s Men when we were in the production studio for our first record. It was based on the Humpty Dumpty children’s song. When our producer heard us talking, he turned in his chair and asked, “What about For King & Country?” And at that moment, everyone had a feeling of fate. “For King and Country” was the war cry of English soldiers who were willing to die for their king and the country. And now it is our job to die for our King & our country.”
They chose to show that they believed in doing something greater than themselves and that their lyrics were devoted and honest about how they felt.
The music of U2, Mutemath, OneRepublic, the Beatles, Goo Goo Dolls, and Switchfoot influenced them. The music from movies like “Braveheart” and “Gladiator” also influenced them.
The New Era of For the King & Country
In 2010, their song “Light It Up” was used in the Lifetime drama Drop Dead Diva. The two put out a self-titled EP for Word the following fall. It had the songs “Love’s to Blame” & “People Change,” which were used in the supernatural CW show The Vampire Diaries, and “Busted Heart,” which was 2011’s fastest-rising debut single just on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart. Crave, their first full-length album came out in February 2012.
It was on Billboard’s list of the most expected debut albums of the year, and the Smallbone brothers went on tour with Skillet, Sanctus Real, and other artists for the Winter Jam tour. The album made it to the top five of the Christian chart and the bottom 50 of the Billboard 200.
In July 2012, they declared that Jason Castro and Dara Maclean would join them on The Proof of Your Love Tour, which would travel to 30 cities from September to November 2012. In October 2012, they put out a new Christmas song called “Baby Boy.” It got to number 20 on the Hot Christian Songs chart.
In August 2013, the band put out a live album and DVD called Hope Is What We Crave: Live. Both were recorded at The Factory in Nashville on the final night of the band’s first tour as the main act. They also put out a single “Hope Is What We Crave.” It is a new version of their song “Crave,” which was on their album. In February 2014, they went on tour with Casting Crowns.
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Run Wild was their 2nd studio album, which came out in 2014. Enjoy life. Love Strong, which was nominated for a Grammy.
In 2018, they put out a record called Burn the Ships that went gold. The album had four singles. “God Only Knows,” which went platinum, “Joy,” and “Burn the Ships,” which went gold, were all on the album. In 2020, they came out with A Drummer Boy Christmas, a full-length Christmas album. What Is We Waiting For was their fifth album, which came out in 2022.
Many other artists, like Dolly Parton, Timbaland, Tori Kelly, Lecrae, Needtobreathe, and others, have worked with the band.
- Film
In 2014, Joel Smallbone was in the film “Like a Country Song,” which also starred Billy Ray Cyrus and Jennifer Taylor from the TV show “Two and a Half Men.” Priceless, a drama regarding human trafficking that came out in October 2016 and starred Joel Smallbone, was about human trafficking. Luke was a producer, along with their dad, and of their brothers, Ben was in charge of making the movie. For King & Country wrote a portion of the music for the movie.
The two of them are also working on a movie about their parents with their brother, Ben. Filming is set to start in the fall of 2022.
- Novel
On September 6, 2016, a book called Priceless: She’s Worth Fighting For came out. It was based on the movie Priceless.
Awards
FOR KING & COUNTRY won two Grammys in 2015: one for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album and another for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song.
They have won five GMA Dove Awards: one in 2013 for New Artist of Year, two in 2015 for Contemporary Christian Artist for the Year and Contemporary Album of Year, one in 2016 for Contemporary Christian Artist of Year, and one in 2019 for Pop/Contemporary Published Song of year.
iTunes named “Crave” their Breakthrough Christian and Gospel Album of 2012 in 2012. For King and Country won Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the K-LOVE Fan Awards in 2013. In 2019, they did win Group or Duo as well as Song of the Year.
Controversy, or allegations of FOR KING & COUNTRY
Luk & Joel Smallbone, the brothers who make up a Christian duo For King & Country, haven’t always had it easy. It was the hard times that drove them to make music and helped them become famous.
“Dad lost his job,” Luke told Arkansas Online. “As a family, we had to pull together.”
“And that is when we finally discovered how to create music, but we also became obsessed with music’s art and soul,” he said.
They went through many hard times in their lives. The saddest moment was when Luke was sick with a disease that could kill him.
Luke, his brother, and the other half of the famous Christian music duo For King & Country was in critical condition when he was in the hospital. He had had ulcerative colitis, a problem with his gut, for a while. The singer was 6 feet 4 inches tall but only weighed 125 pounds. He was too fragile to hold his baby. It was the worst time of their lives. Joel was feeling all over the place.
“Here I am, ready to marry this wonderful woman, and I couldn’t be happier. And now I’m sad and scared. I was afraid of losing my companion, my brother, and my business partner.”
“My younger brother is my back. Recently, doctors have started to use terms like “remission” and “cured.”
When Joel said that, his voice broke. But he teases Luke by saying that Luke must make up for the time they lost. Because brothers do things like that.
The next year, Luke got better and went back on the road. He and his bandmate also put out their second album, which was inspired in large part by Luke’s near-death illness.
“When you face things you can’t even imagine, or things that come out of the blue, suffering makes you brave,” Luke says. “Courage grows out of bravery, and then hope, that I did think was very interesting.”
Conclusion
King & Country music band made up it two passionate brothers is a very very famous Christian pop band. Both of the brothers worked hard in the field to reach the peak of success.
They won many awards and were also nominated for many awards. Although the illness of Luke was a very sad and difficult time for the band they never gave up. After getting well they started again with the same passion and kept progressing.
They have millions of fans who love them for their music.
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