The Newsboys

Newsboys is an Australian group that’s been around since 1985. With John James on vocals, Sean Taylor on bass, George Perdkis on gutar and of course Peter Furler on drums, they originally called themselves simply “The News”. In 1987 they were signed by Refuge Communications and came over to the US. They changed thier name from The News to The Newsboys so they the wouldn’t get confused with Huey Lewis’ band and Phil Yates replaced George Perdkis on gutar. Thier first album Read All About It was released in 1988.

 

They then signed with Star Song records and Jonathan Geange replaced Phil Yates on guitar. Hell Is For Wimps was released in 1990. Vernon Bishop replaced Jonathan Geange on guitar and Corey Pryor joined the band on keybords. Peter Furler began taking charge of the band writing and producing thier 1991 album Boys Will Be Boyz. For their next album Vernon Bishop left the band and songwriter Steven Taylor was brough in to co-produce with Peter Furler. Not Ashamed was released in 1992. It was a hit.

Kevin Mills then replaced Sean Tayor on bass, Duncan Phillips replaced Corey Pryor on the keys, Jody Davis joined on guitar and Jeff Frankenstein came to help them play live on tour. Going Public came out in 1994. It was a smash hit. It was also nominated for Gospel Album of the year at the Grammys and won Dove Awards for “Rock Album of the Year”, and “Rock Recorded Song of the Year” for Shine, wich remains their most popular song.

After that album, Jeff Frankenstein took over on the keys for Duncan Phillips who moved to percussion, and Phil Joel replaced Kevin Mills on bass. Peter Furler continued to write the music, with a number of people pitching in on lyrics. Take me To Your Leader was released in 1996. It was also nominated for a Grammy and several Dove awards, winning for “Best Album Packaging”, with its vintage space craft cover photo.

In 1997 lead singer John James left the band, leaving Peter Furler as the only original member. He took over on lead vocals and was replaced on drums by Duncan Phillips. They then signed with Sparrow Records and released their first album on a major record label. Step Up To The Microphone came out in 1998, followed by Love Liberty Disco in 1999. The following year they released a best of album called Shine: The Hits featuring remixes and 3 new songs. Their next album Thrive was released in 2002. One of the hits on that album was a worshipfull song called It Is You. That led to an entire worship album called Adoration in 2003.

Bryan Oleson then replaced Jody Davis on guitar for a second worship album called Devotion released in 2004. The Newsboys created their own label and Paul Colman replaced Bryan Oleson on guitar for GO in 2006. After a live album called Houston We Are Go in 2008 former member Jody Davis then returned, replacing Paul Colman on guitar. They released the album In The Hands of God in 2009.

In 2009, it was announced that Peter Furler had decided to down as lead singer of the band. Michael Tait of DC Talk was choosen to replace him on vocals.

Their first album featuring Michael Tait was Born Again, which was released in 2010. That year they also released a seasonal album called Christmas! A Newsboys Holiday.