Benny Hester

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Benny Hester bigraphy, stories - Music

Benny Hester : biography

Benny Hester is a music artist and songwriter. He is best known for his songs "When God Ran" and "Nobody Knows Me Like You" and for producing the groundbreaking "tween/teen" music driven, sketch comedy and dance television series Roundhouse on Nickelodeon. Hester received a television Cable Ace Award for the song "I Can Dream" and a collection of nominations for writing and producing a featured original song for each weekly episode of Roundhouse during its successful four-year run. He has written and recorded more than twenty-five No. 1 and top ten songs.

"When God Ran" is the longest-running number one song in Contemporary Christian Music history, number one for 13 weeks.

The title track from his third album, "Nobody Knows Me Like You", reached number one on Christian Music Charts and became the first CCM song to break the Billboard Top 50 Adult Contemporary Chart, debuting at number 44 on November 7, 1981.

Hester’s first CCM single, "Jesus Came Into My Life", was a breakthrough recording, becoming the first contemporary Pop rock song to be universally accepted and widely played across all Christian Radio formats.

Awards

  • CableACE Award (Original Song) – "I Can Dream"
  • Nominated for nine television CableACE awards (for Roundhouse) – Six best "Original Song", three best "Variety Special or Series"
  • Ollie Award – Prestigious recognition for Excellence in Television Programming for America’s Children – American Center for Children’s Television
  • Hollywood Foreign Press Youth In Film Award (Best Original Song) – "Can’t Let Go"
  • Hollywood Foreign Press Youth In Film Award (Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Youth Series or Variety Show, 1992) – "Roundhouse"
  • Grammy nomination – Nobody Knows Me Like You
  • Dove Award nomination – "When God Ran" (1986)"When God Ran" was released in 1985; Dove Awards are typically handed out for works from the year prior to the year in which the ceremony is held

Albums & Concerts

Hester has since released a string of hit albums and chart topping songs, and has performed thousands of concerts. His recording of his song “When God Ran” is the longest-running number one song in Contemporary Christian Music history, spending 13 weeks at #1 on Christian Radio and topping both the AC and CHR Charts. When another Rock single, "Secret Thoughts", from the same album made it to number one, he had three simultaneous chart toppers, a feat which had never been achieved up to that point in Christian music. “When God Ran” was the #1 most played Christian Adult Contemporary radio hit of 1986 and #3 for the entire decade. “When God Ran” continues to be rerecorded by artists in many languages and musical genres, including AC, Pop/Rock, Alt Rock, and Southern Gospel, making it to the top of the charts repeatedly. A version recorded by The Kingsmen took the No. 1 spot on the Southern Gospel Charts in February 2009 and was nominated Gospel Music Song Of The Year and Album Of The Year.

Other top songs include Christ The Solid Rock, Rubber Canoe, Nobody Knows Me Like You, Come Back, Goodbye Salty, Legacy, Whoever Touches You, Streets Of Las Vegas, Can I Get To You From Here, No Man’s Land, Step By Step, To Fill Our Empty Hearts, Real Change, Melody Man, Hold Me, Jesus Came Into My Life, Be A Receiver, Sure Of Your Call, The Door, Squeeze You, We All Know He’s Comin’, Out Of The Natural, Underground River, Remember Me, Caught Away, You Weren’t Meant To Live Your Life Alone.

Biography

Born in Waco, Texas, Hester began studying classical music at age four and continued his studies through high school with European teachers and musical innovators John and Martha Reuther. He was among the first to master John Reuther’s futuristic chromatic “checkerboard” designed keyboard and one of a handful of musicians to become expert on the instrument, playing public performances to demonstrate its attributes over the standard keyboard.