Hillsong Worship sees highest streaming debut ever with premiere of 'Fresh Wind / What A Beautiful Name'
Grammy Award-winning multi-platinum-selling group Hillsong Worship broke several records following the release of their single “Fresh Wind / What A Beautiful Name (Live).”
The new medley of “Fresh Wind” and “What A Beautiful Name” features Hillsong United’s Taya Gaukrodger and Hillsong Worship’s David Ware as co-leads on the single. The original studio recording of “Fresh Wind” was first released earlier this year. Now, the faith-filled declaration is the highest audio streaming debut of any Hillsong song to date in the United States, with more than 942,000 street week streams. The single has now amassed more than 8.2 million streams.
"'Fresh Wind' was born out of an urgency to see Christ’s Church rebuilt, restored and rescued,” Ware said in a statement to The Christian Post. “I believe that there comes a time and place in every generation where there is a significantly great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. A move of God that marks a whole generation of believers and welcomes a new generation of searching non-believers home — one so great that it is as unavoidable as the sound of an explosive gust of wind.”
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The lyrics of the song are a cry for more of God’s presence in the world.
“So we the church / Who bear Your light / Lamp aflame / City bright / King and kingdom come / Is what we pray,” Hillsong Worship sings. “We need a fresh Wind / The fragrance of Heaven / Pour Your Spirit out.”
“It was incredible to finally record the voices of our church family singing this song over every person who is yet to hear this powerful confession,” Ware added. “Our hope is that these words and their voices fill cars, homes, offices, hallways, hospital rooms, government buildings, prisons and anywhere else that this prayer needs to be heard and sung.”
Hillsong church was founded by Brian Houston and his wife, Bobbie, in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia, in 1983. It has now grown from a single church to an international ministry that has houses of worship in 21 countries on six continents, including: London, England; Paris, France; Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Cape Town, South Africa; Tel Aviv, Israel; and cities in the United States.
The church has an average global attendance approaching 130,000 weekly. In the U.S., Hillsong has been known for its large congregations and worship services that are often attended by A-list celebrities.
In November 2020, Carl Lentz,former pastor of Hillsong in New York City, was fired for a series of moral failings and "leadership issues." Soon after, Darnell Barrett, the creative director of Hillsong Church Montclair in New Jersey resigned, and Reed and Jess Bogard from Hillsong Dallas also resigned. The Dallas location has since closed.
Hillsong Worship, however, continues to reach the world with their hit songs that speak to both individual devotion and congregational worship. Hillsong Worship has led the global ministry for more than 30 years with a goal to serve the church by equipping believers worldwide with songs of praise.
The group has accumulated over 7 billion career streams with 20 million album sales to date. The worship group is known for such songs as “What A Beautiful Name,” which reached RIAA Platinum certification. Along with “Who You Say I Am,” “King of Kings,” “Cornerstone,” “Mighty To Save” and “This I Believe (The Creed),” to name a few.
Jeannie Ortega Law is a reporter for The Christian Post. Reach her at: [email protected] Follow her on Twitter: @jlawcp Facebook: JeannieOMusic
