Brian Mark Johnson (born March 17, 1978) is an American contemporary worship musician and worship pastor. He is the president and co-founder of Bethel Music, as well as a member of its Artist Collective and is one-half of the husband-and-wife worship duo, Brian & Jenn Johnson. He is also a senior worship pastor at Bethel Church in Redding, California, and a Senior Overseer of WorshipU, an online school of worship under Bethel Music which he co-founded with Jenn Johnson.
As a solo musician, Johnson has released one album, Love Came Down - Live Acoustic Worship in the Studio (2010). As a part of Brian & Jenn Johnson, three live albums have been released: Undone (2001), We Believe (2006), the duo's first release to chart on Billboards Christian Albums chart, and Where You Go I Go (2008). The duo has also released one studio album, After All These Years (2017), which charted on the US Billboard 200. As a founding member of Bethel Music, Johnson has been featured on most Bethel Music releases. As a songwriter, Johnson has co-written CCLI Top 100 Chart ranking songs such as "Love Came Down", "No Longer Slaves", "Forever", and "One Thing Remains". Johnson has also worked as a producer of multiple Bethel Music, Jesus Culture, and Brian & Jenn Johnson releases, alongside various producers such as Jeremy Edwardson and Ian McIntosh.
Early life
Brian Mark Johnson was born on March 17, 1978, to Bill Johnson and Brenda "Beni" Johnson in Redding, California. In the year of his birth, the Johnson family moved to Weaverville, California, after Bethel Church, under the leadership of his grandfather, Earl Johnson, sent his father to pastor Mountain Chapel. He completed his high school education at Trinity High School in Weaverville. After seventeen years, the Johnsons moved back to Redding in 1996 when Bill and Beni Johnson assumed leadership of Bethel Church.
Johnson has two siblings: an older brother, Eric Johnson, who is a pastor at Bethel Church, and a younger sister, Leah Valenzuela (née Johnson), who is also a member of the Bethel Music collective and one of the worship leaders at Bethel Church.
Ministry and music career
2000s
In 2000, Johnson and his wife, Jenn Johnson, were appointed as senior worship pastors at Bethel Church. As Brian & Jenn Johnson, they released their debut album, Undone, in 2001, featuring Johnson's younger sister Leah Valenzuela. After a five-year hiatus, Brian & Jenn Johnson released their second live album, We Believe in 2006, which was co-produced by Johnson alongside Jeremy Edwardson and Steven Tracy. We Believe also charted at No. 48 on the Billboard Christian Albums chart, making the album the first by the duo to register on the chart. On September 30, 2008, Where You Go I Go, the duo's third album, was released via the label Ion Records.
2010s
In 2010, Bethel Music released Here Is Love, its debut album on October 12, via its own label, Bethel Music alongside Integrity Music. Johnson featured on four tracks: "My Soul Sings", "What Does It Sound Like", "Worthy Is the Lamb" and "Here Is Love", which he sang alongside his wife, Jenn Johnson. Johnson made an appearance on Dave Fitzgerald's debut album, Hope of Heaven: Live at Bethel Church, which was released on October 26, featuring on the song "Shine". Soon after Fitzgerald's release, Love Came Down - Live Acoustic Worship in the Studio, Brian Johnson's debut live album, was released by record labels Bethel and Kingsway Music on November 9. Love Came Down was produced by Jeremy Edwardson, and recorded at The Soundhouse, a studio owned by Jeremy Edwardson in Redding, California.