Cory Asbury
Cory Hunter Asbury is an American Christian musician, worship pastor, songwriter, and former member of the Bethel Music collective. He was born on October 15, 1985. Music affected him profoundly in his childhood, and he developed his songwriting ability growing up in North Carolina. Asbury began leading worship at his local church when he was seventeen years old. When Asbury finished high school at Franklin High School in 2004, he considered studying at UNC Chapel Hill, but his friends that graduated at the Onething internship with International House of Prayer (IHOPKC) in Kansas City persuaded Asbury to attend IHOPKC instead, so Asbury began his internship at IHOPKC on January 1, 2005, where he started his musical career.
Starting as an intern with the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2005, Asbury’s career as a musician grew as he collaborated with Matt Gilman leading to the release of Holy in 2008, followed by his first solo album, Let Me See Your Eyes, in 2009 by Forerunner Music, and numerous appearances on IHOPKC albums, with songs such as “Where I Belong”, “Shekinah”, “All Is for Your Glory” and “Holy Ghost Party”. In June 2012, Asbury moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to join New Life Church where he began as an associate worship pastor, becoming a member of its ensembles, Desperation Band and New Life Worship.
After signing with Bethel Music in 2015, Asbury made his first appearance with the Collective on Have It All (2016). He became more known with the release of “Reckless Love” in late 2017, a hit single that preceded his breakthrough second full-length album, also titled Reckless Love, in early 2018 which was a commercially successful release, having charted in the United States and internationally. “Reckless Love” was nominated for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song in the 2019 Grammy Awards. His third studio album, To Love a Fool, was released on July 31, 2020, which featured the singles, “The Father’s House“, “Sparrows“, and “Dear God“.
On January 24, 2020, “The Father’s House” was released as the lead single for his third solo album, To Love a Fool. On the Hot Christian Songs chart, the song debuted at No. 16, peaking at No. 3 on the chart. Asbury released “Christ Be Magnified” as a standalone single on February 28, 2020. On April 4, 2020, Asbury and Bethel Music released “Egypt” as third single from Bethel Music’s album, Revival’s in the Air (2020). The song peaked at No. 36 on the Hot Christian Songs chart. To Love a Fool was released on July 31, 2020. To Love a Fool debuted at number four on the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart. On September 11, 2020, “Sparrows” was released to Christian radio in the United States as the second single from To Love a Fool. “Sparrows” peaked at number 6 on Hot Christian Songs chart. Asbury released “Dear God” as the third single from To Love a Fool, on October 23, 2020. “Dear God” debuted at number 34 on the Hot Christian Songs chart.
On November 6, 2020, Asbury released his first live album, To Love a Fool – A Rooftop Experience, which contains live versions of the songs that initially appeared on To Love a Fool studio recording The album debuted at number 20 on the Top Christian Albums Chart
Asbury received two nominations for the 2021 GMA Dove Awards, being nominated for Song of the Year for “The Father’s House” and Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year for To Love a Fool. In August 2021, Asbury announced that he would be headlining the Songs and Stories tour in the United States, alongside Benjamin Hastings of Hillsong United.
