Matt Maher | Biography

Empty and Beautiful released!

2006 UNITY AWARDS:

• Rock Album of the Year (tie with Tom Booth) for Overflow
• Album Packaging of the Year for Overflow

MATT MAHER has become one of the most popular and critically-acclaimed Catholic artists in the country.

Since the 2002 release of his first CD, The End and the Beginning, the rise of Matt and his music has been remarkable. At World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto, Matt’s “Litany of the Saints” was sung at the official Papal Evening Prayer, with the Holy Father singing the lyrical prayer along with 700,000 young pilgrims from around the world. Matt’s songs “Just Like You” and “Love Has Come” were recorded by Christian artist Kathy Troccoli for her album The Heart of Me, which received a Grammy nomination for 2002 Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year.

In October 2003, he received the Unity Award for “Best New Artist of the Year” from the United Catholic Music and Video Association. In 2004 he received the Unity Award for Praise & Worship Song of the Year for “I Love You, Lord.” Matt’s music has received glowing reviews from major Catholic and Christian music publications. He has become a popular performer at youth ministry conferences and rallies, with fans dancing and singing along.

And yet, in spite of the temptation to let all this acclaim go to his head, Matt manages to keep everything in proper perspective. He still leads the music ministry every Sunday night at St. Timothy’s with his friend and mentor, Tom Booth. In fact, Matt was unable to personally accept his Unity Award at the ceremony in Bloomingdale, Ohio, because of his parish commitment.

One only has to look at Matt’s lyrics to understand the depth of his love and dedication to Jesus and the church: “I want to be holy just like you . . . .” “Love has come to show the way . . . .” “My God is powerful, is so faithful, is wonderful to me . . . .” “Jesus I surrender my life to you . . . .” Of his debut CD’s title song, Matt says “We are an ‘end people.’ Most of us spend our lives stuck at the end. For some the end means death, or graduation, or changing careers. We look at it all with finality. God looks at the end and says, ‘No, that’s the beginning.’ With God, death is life.”

With the release of Welcome to Life in 2003 and his third album, Overflow, in February 2006, Matt continues to explore the wonders and challenges of this life that God calls us to. How blessed are we to have a grounded believer like Matt as he welcomes us to walk with him in his ministry to all God’s people, young and old, around the world.

Now in 2008, Matt has released Empty and Beautiful! 12 songs of powerful sounds that come from a place of intimacy and jubilation. Matt continues to provide the Church with art that expresses God's greatness and singable songs that give voice to our desire to be in relationship with the Lord.