- Contemporary Christian singer songwriter and guitarist born in 1972 in Grand Saline Texas.
- Tomlin listened to country music as a boy, influenced by Willie Nelson. He learned the guitar, and at the age of 9, he committed to his Christianity. He wrote his first Christian song when he was 14, and he was a leader in his worship group at church. He went to college, planning a medical career, but after he became active in a school worship group called Breakaway, he began to consider a career in music. He became active in a Christian group called Choice, and he performed songs of praise at youth ministry camps and college campuses. By the mid-90s, Tomlin was recording independent albums – he recorded 3 from 1995 to 1998. Choice evolved into an organization called Passion, and Tomlin songs were regularly performed at Passion events across the nation. Passion included a record company that signed Tomlin in 2000.
- His debut album was released in 2001 – The Noise We Make. By this time, Tomlin was a pastor at a church in Texas. He assembled a band, and they toured at Passion events as well as headlined their own concerts. A second album, Not To Us, was released in 2002, his first to chart on both the Christian albums chart and the Billboard 200 album chart.
- His breakthrough came with 2004’s album Arriving. He received Dove Awards (the Gospel Music Association’s awards for outstanding achievement in Christian music) for Praise and Worship Album of the Year, as well as Artist of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year. The album peaked at #6 on the Christian album chart, and was certified platinum. It included 2 singles that reached #1 on Christian singles charts – How Great Is Our God and Holy is the Lord. How Great Is Our God won 2 more Dove Awards, and it remains one of the most sung songs at Christian worship services throughout the world today.
- His next 2 studio albums – See the Morning in 2006 and Hello Love in 2008 – got Tomlin his first Grammy award nominations. Both topped the Christian album chart, and See the Morning achieved platinum status. Five more singles reached the top 5 of Christian songs charts, with Made to Worship topping the chart. Tomlin also released live albums in 2005 and 2009 – the first, Live from Austin Music Hall – is dedicated to the 2000 people that were turned away at the door the night the album was recorded.
- In 2010, And If Our God Is For Us….was released. Tomlin won a Grammy award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album for the album. It included another #1 song, Our God, which joined How Great Is Our God and Holy is the Lord as 3 of the most popular songs at Christian worship services today.
- Tomlin’s Burning Lights album, released in 2013, held the distinction of reaching #1 on both the Christian album and Billboard 200 album charts. It was only the fourth CCM album to top the Billboard 200 chart in the history of the chart. The single Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies) became his sixth single to top the Christian Songs chart.
- Three more studio albums and two live albums released between 2014 and 2019 continued his string of successful albums, with 6 more singles reaching #1 on the Christian Songs chart. One of these songs, Good Good Father, was certified platinum as a single.
- In 2015, Tomlin began his Worship Night In America concert series. The touring presentation of music and prayer featured Tomlin and his band performing at packed houses throughout America, including famous venues like Madison Square Garden and Red Rocks Amphitheater. The 2020 planned concert on Good Friday in Nashville in April was canceled due to COVID, but instead of 16,000 fans enjoying the performance, a concert was recorded by Trinity Broadcast Network and then shown worldwide.
- Tomlin’s positive message and modern rock and roll style of Christian celebration makes him one of Contemporary Christian Music’s most popular artists. In 2006, Time Magazine called him “the most often sung artist anywhere.” In 2018, he became the first Christian artist ever to have over a billion streams on Pandora. His live performances rival the visuals of the best rock concerts. Watch him perform Our God at Red Rocks – super cool, you’d think you were at a Coldplay concert!