The transformational power of music undeniable. Take the ultra-popular worship collective Hillsong UNITED for example. The group was brought in together as part of the Hillsong church’s youth ministry in 1998. The band, made up of a rotating selection of Hillsong worship leaders kicked off their career with the 1998 release of their full-length record, “Touching Heaven Changing Earth” and never looked back.
To date, Hillsong UNITED has enjoyed a legacy including 5 studio albums, and 14 live albums. The band has hit No. 1 on the Billboard’s Christian charts consistently and even managed to hit No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with their song “People” in May of 2019.
How much more? Recently, the award-winning collective joined the Pandora Billionaire’s Club, an honour bestowed by music-streaming giant Pandora to those who have exceeded 1-billion lifetime streams on the music platform.
As of this writing, Hillsong UNITED has managed to rack up 1.8-billion lifetime streams since their debut in 1998.
Pandora presented the award to the band ahead of Hillsong UNITED’s sold-out show at Madison Square Garden.
JD of Hillsong UNITED had this to say about the band’s momentous achievement:
To say we are completely humbled and grateful to receive this accolade and be able to travel these songs would be an understatement! We are so thankful to everyone who has come out to the events and engaged in these songs. We have always endeavoured for these songs to help people in whatever season of life they are in and bring glory to God who gave us all life in the first place!
Music streaming services like Pandora are an incredible way for meaningful music to reach the hearts, minds and souls of millions all over the world. And people are listening. 1.8-billion people, to be precise.
