Matthew West Biography

Matthew West Born

April 25, 1977 as Matthew Joseph West in Chicago, Illinois.

Matthew West Quote

"The thing is, dressing up, going to church, dropping a twenty in the offering plate, those things are all well and good, but that doesn't make you a Christian."

From About.com interview 2009 with Kim Jones

Matthew West The Early Years

Raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Matthew West had two passions ... baseball and music. He played baseball through high school and was his team's captain as a senior. He was awarded a four-year music scholarship to Millikin University in Illinois, and he graduated in 1999. Shortly after graduating, Word Music signed him to a songwriting contract.

Jump5, Rachael Lampa, and Salvador all recorded his music and West satisfied his own need to perform by playing at colleges and churches. He recorded a demo and in 2002, Universal South called him into a meeting.

Matthew West Signed:

A few days before the meeting with the label, West locked himself out of his house. He tried to open a window to get in but his hand slipped and went through the glass. Heavy bleeding caused him to go into a state of shock. Construction workers found him collapsed in the street and got him to the hospital. He woke up five days later to the news that doctors felt he would never play again. Three months of physical therapy later, he did play again and fully recovered. The offer with Universal South was still open and Happy, his debut release, hit stores in 2004.

Matthew West Gets a New Label

After two releases with Universal South and a re-release of his demo as a full-length project West moved over to Sparrow Records. Plans to hit the studio with brand new songs were made and concerts were booked all over the place. But everything came to a screeching halt after Matthew lost his voice and was told that he had had a vascular polyp and hemorrhaged blood vessels on his vocal chords. The only treatment that would give him a chance at singing again was two months of complete silence and surgery.

Things got dark and West said he was in an uncertain place. His faith, however, didn't allow him to stay there for too long. At the end of his recovery his voice was back, his faith was strong and his career was back on track. Something To Say, his first Sparrow project, released in 2008 and the lead single, "The Motions" became a #1 hit.

Matthew West Discography:

• Live Forever, 2015
• Into the Light, 2012 
• The Heart Of Christmas, 2011 
• The Story of Your Life, 2010 
• Something to Say, 2008 
• Sellout, 2006
• History, 2005 
• Happy, 2004 

Matthew West Starter Songs:

• "A Friend In The World" 
• "I Know You're There" 
• "Save A Place For Me" 
• "You Are Everything" 
• "Life Inside You" 

Matthew West Extras:

• Artists That Sound Similar to Matthew West
• Christian Wedding Songs
• Christian Funeral Songs

Matthew West News & Notes:

• Matthew West Get 2 K-LOVE Fan Awards Nominations in 2015
• Top Christian Christmas Music for 2011
• Top 40 Christian Songs of 2008
• Top 10 Hits of 2005

Matthew West Online

• Matthew West Official Site
• Matthew West on Twitter
• Matthew West on Facebook
• Matthew West on YouTube