William Matthews (musician)

Matthews was born William Irvin Matthews on November 5, 1983, in the city of Detroit to a father who was a preacher and a mother who was a choir director.[1] At 12 years old, he moved with his family to Raleigh, North Carolina, where he started honing his acumen as a songwriter. His baptism occurred when he was 18 years old.[1] He moved to Kansas City, Missouri for the first part of 2007, where he attended worship services at International House of Prayer.[1] Subsequently, he relocated later that year to Redding, California at the request of Kim Walker-Smith, where he met Brian and Jenn Johnson.[1] Matthews ended up loving the church for its worship program, and remained a member of Bethel Church for several years.[1]

In 2014, Matthews left Bethel Church after six years, citing creative exploration and a desire to move in a new direction.[2] Matthews remained on the Bethel Music label post-departure contributing to the Bethel Music compilation album Have it All (Live).[3] On November 29, 2016, Bethel Music released a statement via their November newsletter and also on their website communicating, "As of June 13, 2016, Bethel Music and William Matthews have agreed that William will no longer be affiliated with Bethel Music, and William will no longer be in leadership within any of the worship communities at Bethel Church."[4]

His music recording career commenced in 2011 with the album, Hope's Anthem, released on July 26, 2011 by Bethel Music alongside Kingsway Music.[5] The album was his breakthrough release upon the Billboard charts, where it placed at No. 27 on the Christian Albums chart and No. 19 on the Heatseekers Albums chart.[6][7]

• Official website
• Bethel Music profile