Benny Hester
Encyclopedia
Benny Hester is a music
artist
and songwriter
. He is best known for his chart-topping songs, "When God Ran" and top 40 crossover hit "Nobody Knows Me Like You". Benny has written and recorded more than twenty-five number one and top ten songs.
"When God Ran" is the longest-running number one song in Christian Contemporary Music history.
Benny’s first single, "Jesus Came Into My Life", was a breakthrough recording, becoming the first contemporary rock song to be universally accepted and widely played across all Christian Radio formats. The title track from his third album, “Nobody Knows Me Like You”, reached number one on the Christian Music Charts and became the first CCM song to break the Billboard Top 40 AC Charts.
Benny auditioned and was chosen to sing with “The Texas Boys Choir”.
He became the youngest member of the Texas Swing Band “Sam Weaver and The Texas Playboys”, and appeared on the band’s weekly television show playing alongside guest music legends including Johnny Gimble and Ernest Tubb.
While in high school, Benny was one of the founding members of the popular pop-rock band “The Morticians”. He wrote songs for the group and included them in sets for the band’s sizable revved up audiences. Headed now by original band member Joe Hall, “The Morticians” continue to play concerts regularly - http://themorticians.com
Benny was hired to play in the live stage band and orchestra for the long running musical “Texas” and continued with the show for two years. While performing in “Texas” he founded the singing duo “Hester & Hilton” with partner Steve Hilton. “Hester & Hilton” performed their own songs along with stylized takes on songs by their favorite artists. While playing El Paso, Benny was asked to write two songs for a recording session by the group “The Sojourners”. It turned out to be his first professional recording session as a songwriter. The two songs were produced and engineered by Norman Petty and recorded at Norman Petty Studios in Clovis, New Mexico, where Benny had the opportunity to work with the legendary Petty and record in his hit studio. Benny and his older brother, a music fan with a ten-year head start
on him, grew up singing and listening to Buddy Holly songs. Norman Petty produced and recorded those songs. Benny coincidentally attended Texas Tech in Lubbock, TX, home to Petty and birthplace of Holly.
Hester moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where he met music producer and recording engineer Brent Maher. He taught music at a private music school, recorded “Hester & Hilton” demos at Bill Porter's United Recording Studios, and later formed a successful jingle advertising company, MusAd, which dominated the Las Vegas radio and television market for ten years. He penned the song for Hickory Farms Of Ohio and Nevada’s largest newspaper, The Las Vegas Review Journal, with the slogan “The RJ is Las Vegas” appearing on billboards and ads still. Together Benny and Brent wrote and produced commercial songs for many Las Vegas hotels and banks, Nevada's largest home builders, trendy clothing manufacturers and outlets and notably, at the request of coach Jerry Tarkanian, the original University Of Nevada Las Vegas fight song and school song for the UNLV “Runnin’ Rebels” basketball team. Maher went on to produce Hester's first two albums, the self titled, Benny..., and his first CCM album for Billy Ray Hearn's Sparrow Records. Benny first became a Christian while attending an evangelical rally at a traveling tent crusade called Christ is the Answer. He later attended a local church called The Neighborhood Church.
Maher and Bill Porter, Elvis Presley’s recording and sound engineer, brought Elvis’s band to record with Benny for his first album. The band included Ronnie Tutt, James Burton, Glenn Hardin and Jerry Scheff, as well as Larry Muhoberac and Joe Osborn.
The finished masters and packaged albums, ready for record company distribution, were lost in the studio-warehouse fire that destroyed United Recording. Benny’s first album was never released. Only a few albums survived the fire, ending up in the hands of collectors.
Hester has since released a string of hit albums and chart topping songs, and has performed thousands of concerts. His recording of “When God Ran” is the longest-running number one song in Contemporary Christian Music history, number one for thirteen weeks, at which time the song held the number one spot on the AC and CHR Charts. Simultaneously Benny’s recording of “Secret Thoughts” made its way to the number one slot on the ROCK Charts, causing him to sweep the top spot on all three. “When God Ran” continues to be rerecorded by many groups and in many musical genres, making it to the top of the charts repeatedly. The latest version by “The Kingsmen” took the number one spot on the Southern Gospel Charts in February 2009. Also, for the 2009 Fan Awards Nominations... Favorite Song - "When God Ran"... Favorite Album - "When God Ran".
From 1991 to 1996 Hester was the Music Producer/Musical Director, Songwriter and Co-Executive producer of the award winning MTV/Nickelodeon television series Roundhouse. He was nominated for seven songwriting and music producer awards, winning for “I Can Dream” and “Can’t Let Go” in the best “Original Song” for television category, and three times as Co-Executive Producer for best “Variety Special Or Series”.
Hester was the recipient of the prestigious “Ollie Award” for “Excellence In Television Programming For America’s Children”.
Benny lives in Southern California and continues to schedule appearances and concerts. A new album is in the works, and a sample of the latest studio tracks can be heard at http://bennyhester.com
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
. He is best known for his chart-topping songs, "When God Ran" and top 40 crossover hit "Nobody Knows Me Like You". Benny has written and recorded more than twenty-five number one and top ten songs.
"When God Ran" is the longest-running number one song in Christian Contemporary Music history.
Benny’s first single, "Jesus Came Into My Life", was a breakthrough recording, becoming the first contemporary rock song to be universally accepted and widely played across all Christian Radio formats. The title track from his third album, “Nobody Knows Me Like You”, reached number one on the Christian Music Charts and became the first CCM song to break the Billboard Top 40 AC Charts.
Biography
Born in Waco, Texas, Benny began studying classical music at age four and continued his studies through high school with European teachers and musical innovators John and Martha Reuther. He was among the first to master John Reuther’s futuristic chromatic “checkerboard” designed keyboard and one of a handful of musicians to become expert on the instrument, playing public performances to demonstrate its attributes over the standard keyboard.Benny auditioned and was chosen to sing with “The Texas Boys Choir”.
He became the youngest member of the Texas Swing Band “Sam Weaver and The Texas Playboys”, and appeared on the band’s weekly television show playing alongside guest music legends including Johnny Gimble and Ernest Tubb.
While in high school, Benny was one of the founding members of the popular pop-rock band “The Morticians”. He wrote songs for the group and included them in sets for the band’s sizable revved up audiences. Headed now by original band member Joe Hall, “The Morticians” continue to play concerts regularly - http://themorticians.com
Benny was hired to play in the live stage band and orchestra for the long running musical “Texas” and continued with the show for two years. While performing in “Texas” he founded the singing duo “Hester & Hilton” with partner Steve Hilton. “Hester & Hilton” performed their own songs along with stylized takes on songs by their favorite artists. While playing El Paso, Benny was asked to write two songs for a recording session by the group “The Sojourners”. It turned out to be his first professional recording session as a songwriter. The two songs were produced and engineered by Norman Petty and recorded at Norman Petty Studios in Clovis, New Mexico, where Benny had the opportunity to work with the legendary Petty and record in his hit studio. Benny and his older brother, a music fan with a ten-year head start
Head start (positioning)
In positioning, a head start is a start in advance of the starting position of others in competition, or simply toward the finish line or desired outcome...
on him, grew up singing and listening to Buddy Holly songs. Norman Petty produced and recorded those songs. Benny coincidentally attended Texas Tech in Lubbock, TX, home to Petty and birthplace of Holly.
Hester moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where he met music producer and recording engineer Brent Maher. He taught music at a private music school, recorded “Hester & Hilton” demos at Bill Porter's United Recording Studios, and later formed a successful jingle advertising company, MusAd, which dominated the Las Vegas radio and television market for ten years. He penned the song for Hickory Farms Of Ohio and Nevada’s largest newspaper, The Las Vegas Review Journal, with the slogan “The RJ is Las Vegas” appearing on billboards and ads still. Together Benny and Brent wrote and produced commercial songs for many Las Vegas hotels and banks, Nevada's largest home builders, trendy clothing manufacturers and outlets and notably, at the request of coach Jerry Tarkanian, the original University Of Nevada Las Vegas fight song and school song for the UNLV “Runnin’ Rebels” basketball team. Maher went on to produce Hester's first two albums, the self titled, Benny..., and his first CCM album for Billy Ray Hearn's Sparrow Records. Benny first became a Christian while attending an evangelical rally at a traveling tent crusade called Christ is the Answer. He later attended a local church called The Neighborhood Church.
Maher and Bill Porter, Elvis Presley’s recording and sound engineer, brought Elvis’s band to record with Benny for his first album. The band included Ronnie Tutt, James Burton, Glenn Hardin and Jerry Scheff, as well as Larry Muhoberac and Joe Osborn.
The finished masters and packaged albums, ready for record company distribution, were lost in the studio-warehouse fire that destroyed United Recording. Benny’s first album was never released. Only a few albums survived the fire, ending up in the hands of collectors.
Hester has since released a string of hit albums and chart topping songs, and has performed thousands of concerts. His recording of “When God Ran” is the longest-running number one song in Contemporary Christian Music history, number one for thirteen weeks, at which time the song held the number one spot on the AC and CHR Charts. Simultaneously Benny’s recording of “Secret Thoughts” made its way to the number one slot on the ROCK Charts, causing him to sweep the top spot on all three. “When God Ran” continues to be rerecorded by many groups and in many musical genres, making it to the top of the charts repeatedly. The latest version by “The Kingsmen” took the number one spot on the Southern Gospel Charts in February 2009. Also, for the 2009 Fan Awards Nominations... Favorite Song - "When God Ran"... Favorite Album - "When God Ran".
From 1991 to 1996 Hester was the Music Producer/Musical Director, Songwriter and Co-Executive producer of the award winning MTV/Nickelodeon television series Roundhouse. He was nominated for seven songwriting and music producer awards, winning for “I Can Dream” and “Can’t Let Go” in the best “Original Song” for television category, and three times as Co-Executive Producer for best “Variety Special Or Series”.
Hester was the recipient of the prestigious “Ollie Award” for “Excellence In Television Programming For America’s Children”.
Benny lives in Southern California and continues to schedule appearances and concerts. A new album is in the works, and a sample of the latest studio tracks can be heard at http://bennyhester.com
Discography
- Benny, 1972 (VMI Records) Produced by Brent Maher
- Give Your Love Forever
- No, the End is Not Near
- Love Never Dies
- The Bridge
- We All Know He's Coming
- The Painter
- Malcombe
- What's Happened to My Friends
- Please Let This Be So
- Genevieve
- Benny Hester, 1978 (SparrowSparrow Records-Background:Sparrow Records was founded in 1976 by Billy Ray Hearn, then A&R director at Myrrh Records. Purchased by EMI in 1992, it is now part of the EMI Christian Music Group, and has been named by Billboard Magazine as "America's Best Christian Music Record Label"...
/Spirit Records), Be a Receiver (1982 re-release by Myrrh) Produced by Brent Maher
- Benny Hester, 1978 (Sparrow
- Be a Receiver
- Squeeze You
- Sure of Your Call
- Jesus Came Into My Life
- The Door
- Gonna Happen Here
- Only You
- Such a Relief
- All You Can Do
- We All Know He's Comin'
- Nobody Knows Me Like You, 1981 (Myrrh RecordsMyrrh RecordsMyrrh Records, also known as Myrrh Worship, is a Christian music record label. According to Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music, the label was instrumental in developing a popular following for Contemporary Christian music as the label that first published music by Barry McGuire, 2nd Chapter of...
) Produced by Michael OmartianMichael OmartianMichael Omartian is an Armenian-American singer-songwriter, keyboardist, and music producer. He has been a participant in over 350,000,000 albums and CD’s sold worldwide, as a producer, arranger, artist or musician, during a career that has spanned over 38 years...
- Nobody Knows Me Like You, 1981 (Myrrh Records
- Come Back
- No Man's Land
- Rubber Canoe
- Nobody Knows Me Like You
- Step By Step
- One More Time
- Goodbye, Salty
- Real Change
- You Loved Me
- Christ the Solid Rock
- Legacy, 1983 (Myrrh Records) Produced by Benny Hester & John Guess
- Legacy
- Closer
- It Took So Long
- Melody Man
- Sensitive Heart
- Caught Away
- Out of the Natural
- Nobody's Listening
- Footprints
- These Things Were Done By You
- Benny From Here, 1985 (Myrrh Records) Produced by Dan Posthuma & Jeremy Smith
- Secret Thoughts
- Streets of Las Vegas
- When God Ran
- Susie Said, Yeah!
- To Fill our Empty Hearts
- Back to Basics
- Can I Get to You From Here
- Whoever Touches You
- Marching On
- Hold Me
- Through The Window, 1987 (Myrrh Records) Produced by Dan Posthuma
- Underground River
- Cat
- It's Only Love
- Remember Me
- The More I Enter In
- Wonderful Invention of Love
- Nothing Will Ever Be the Same Again
- In Visible Silence
- Long Lost Heaven
- This is Me
- Personal Best, 1988 (Myrrh Records) Compilation album
- Nobody Knows Me Like You
- Be a Receiver
- Legacy
- Secret Thoughts
- Remember Me
- Jesus Came Into My Life
- Melody Man
- Out of the Natural
- Underground River
- Rubber Canoe
- Hold Me
- Whoever Touches You
- To Fill Our Empty Hearts
- Christ the Solid Rock
- When God Ran
- Perfect, 1989 (Frontline RecordsFrontline Records (1980s)Frontline Records was a Christian record label founded in 1986 by James Kempner. The label focused primarily on modern rock, rap, and hip-hop...
) Produced by Benny Hester & Bill Baumgart
- Perfect, 1989 (Frontline Records
- Headlights on the Highway
- Before You Know It
- If You Die Before You Die
- Perfect
- Hungry World
- You Weren't Meant to Live Your Life Alone
- Two Good Reasons
- This One's for Keeping
- Passion, Possession, Position
- Shall We Gather at the River
- United We Stand/Divided We Fall, 1991 (Frontline Records) Produced by Benny Hester & Bill Baumgart
- Close to Me
- Love is Made of This
- These Old Dreams
- Restless Nights
- Noonday Night
- You Can Have Mine
- Rain, Rain, Rain
- Too Bad She Didn't Want Me
- Too Blue
- Break Out
- Climbing Jacob's Ladder
- Reason To Be, 2008 (Independent)
- Hey, Everybody
- Storm on the Sun
- Out of the Wreck
- Shine
- Take Me Out of Here
Awards
- CableACE Award (Original Song) - "I Can Dream"
- Nominated for nine television CableAce awards (for RoundhouseRoundhouse (TV series)Roundhouse is an American sketch comedy television series that aired on Nickelodeon from August 15, 1992 through January 27, 1996.-Background:...
) - Six Best Original Song, three Best Variety Special or Series - Ollie Award - Prestigious recognition for Excellence in Television Programming for America's Children
- Youth in Film AwardYoung Artist AwardThe Young Artist Award is an accolade bestowed by the Young Artist Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1978 to recognize and award excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young artists who may be physically and/or financially challenged.The Young Artist...
(Best Original Song) - "Can't Let Go" - Youth in Film Award (Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Youth Series or Variety Show, 1992)
- Grammy nomination - "Nobody Knows Me Like You"
- Dove Award nomination (1986)- "When God Ran"