Michael Tait Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Musical career== ===DC Talk (1988β2001)=== Michael Tait met Toby McKeehan in 1984 while he was in high school in the [[Washington, D.C.]] area, and together they began creating music. Michael Tait and Toby McKeehan both met Kevin Max while attending [[Liberty University]] in the mid-1980s. Together, all three formed the four-time Grammy winning band [[DC Talk]]<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web |title=dc Talk Discography, dc Talk Artist Database, dc Talk Lyrics |url=http://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/artists/dcTalk.asp |access-date=November 11, 2011 |publisher=Jesusfreakhideout.com}}</ref> and released 5 acclaimed studio albums. In 2000, the band announced a hiatus with the release of ''[[Intermission: the Greatest Hits]]'' while all three members devoted themselves to solo projects. The band has not toured together since 2001 (except for one time in Redmond, Washington in 2005 and when TobyMac made a surprise guest appearance at Winter Jam in 2010 in Nashville and sang "Jesus Freak" with Tait). The three have recorded four songs together since the announcement of the hiatus including the remix of "Atmosphere" on TobyMac's 2004 album ''[[Welcome to Diverse City]]'', a cover of the [[Prince (musician)|Prince]] song "The Cross" on Kevin Max's 2007 album ''[[The Blood (album)|The Blood]]'', "Love Feels Like" on TobyMac's 2015 album ''[[This Is Not a Test (album)|This Is Not a Test]]'' and "Let's Roll" following the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]].<ref>[http://www.dctalkunite.com www.dctalkunite.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615052329/http://www.dctalkunite.com/ |date=June 15, 2006 }}</ref> ===Tait (1997β2007)=== After [[DC Talk]]'s hiatus was announced, Tait dedicated more time to his band [[Tait (band)|Tait]] (which he named after his father, Nathel).<ref name="ReferenceA" /> Tait had partially formed this band around 1997. One of the original members was guitarist [[Pete Stewart]] (from the hard rock band [[Grammatrain]]), who is featured on the [[Empty (Tait album)|first album]], but absent from the [[Lose This Life|second one]] due to his departing the band to work on his own solo projects. In 2006, Tait announced that they were working on an album titled ''Loveology''. Though Michael is now touring as frontman for the Newsboys, he still has plans to release ''Loveology''. In an interview with John Dibiase of Jesusfreakhideout.com, he stated that ''Loveology'' is still in the works, and will be a separate project from the Newsboys. In the interview Michael said, "Loveology is going to become something we're going to be writing about very soon. I can't tell you now, but it's a project with the boys and I and [[Ben Moody]], which is another whole music project." ===Newsboys (2009βpresent)=== [[File:Michael Tait with the Newsboys.jpg|right|thumb|Michael Tait performing a concert with the [[Newsboys]] in Toronto on April 6, 2009.]] An official statement was released on March 9, 2009 that announced Michael Tait as the new lead singer of [[Newsboys]]. Coincidentally, Tait's former group, DC Talk toured with Newsboys in the 1990s. On March 7, 2009, Tait surprised the crowd by performing as Newsboys' lead singer for the first time and announcing that he would be the band's new lead singer.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 9, 2009 |title=Music News, March 2009: MICHAEL TAIT TO JOIN NEWSBOYS |url=http://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/news/2009/03/09.MICHAEL%20TAIT%20TO%20JOIN%20NEWSBOYS.asp |access-date=November 11, 2011 |publisher=Jesusfreakhideout.com}}</ref> In the official statement released on March 9, Tait said, "For years DC Talk and Newsboys have been family and thus shared the same fans. When I received the initial call from Newsboys to consider joining the band as lead singer, I was speechless! I immediately sought wise counsel and flooded the heavens with endless prayers for insight and vision, and I soon received a clear and definite peace. Last weekend, I had the opportunity to perform my first show as Newsboys' front man to an audience of 12,000 people. I was completely wrapped in love and support by Newsboys' fans, who are clearly the best fans on the planet. Now I know this is exactly where I belong in this new and wonderful moment in my life's history. This is a definite highlight of my career and for my 20+ years of walking with Jesus, and I am humbled, proud and privileged to call myself a Newsboy."<ref>{{Cite web |title=newsboys | Free music, tour dates, photos, videos |url=http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=92459748&blogId=475619920 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090314015002/http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=92459748&blogID=475619920 |archive-date=March 14, 2009 |access-date=November 11, 2011 |publisher=Blogs.myspace.com }}</ref> Former Newsboys lead singer [[Peter Furler]] still provided lead vocals on the 2009 album ''In the Hands of God'', though Michael Tait provided supporting vocals, along with Jamie Rowe of Guardian.<ref name="jesusfreakhideout.com" /> [[Peter Furler|Furler]]'s last performance as lead vocalist took place during a performance at Disney's [[Night of Joy (festival)|Night of Joy]] 2009. Michael performed lead vocals for most of the songs, but Peter did come out to sing lead on the song "Breakfast". In 2010, the reborn Newsboys announced information about their 15th studio album (and first with Tait on lead vocals), ''[[Born Again (Newsboys album)|Born Again]]'', which was released on July 13. That was followed by ''[[Christmas! A Newsboys Holiday]]'', including a previously recorded Tait song. In 2011, ''[[God's Not Dead (album)|God's Not Dead]]'', and the live follow-up, ''[[Newsboys Live in Concert: God's Not Dead]]'' in 2012, ''[[Restart (Newsboys album)|Restart]]'' in 2013, and ''[[Hallelujah for the Cross]]'' in 2014. After the release of ''[[Love Riot (Newsboys album)|Love Riot]]'', and ''United'', the Newsboys released ''Stand'' on October 1, 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 6, 2021 |title=Newsboys 'Stand' |url=https://www.ccmmagazine.com/reviews/music/newsboys-stand/ |access-date=April 12, 2022 |publisher=ccmmagazine.com}}</ref> The band released a special version of the title track "Stand" with [[Toby Mac]] as a guest.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 31, 2021 |title=LISTEN: Tobymac featured on new version of Newsboys 'Stand' |url=https://www.chvnradio.com/articles/listen-tobymac-featured-on-new-version-of-newsboys-stand |access-date=April 12, 2022 |publisher=chvnradio.com}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page