The Newsboys are a Christian pop/rock band formed in 1987 in Mooloolaba, Australia (although they soon relocated to Nashville, Tennessee). Its core members, John James and Peter Furler, originally hailed from Australia where they played in a band together called The News. Phil Joel is from New Zealand.

Newsboys are widely considered one of the most popular bands in the Christian music industry. They have had numerous hit singles on the Christian pop charts and two of their albums are considered among CCM's best: Going Public (1994) and Step Up To The Microphone (1998). They are perhaps best known for their 1995 hit single, "Shine". A double-disk worship/rock album is scheduled for release in early 2006.

In 2000, helped start and headlined the annual, travelling CCM festival Festival Con Dios with Audio Adrenaline and The O.C. Supertones. It was known for featuring popular, Christian

Steve Taylor has produced many of their hit albums and many of his songs for The Newsboys ("Breakfast", "Take Me To Your Leader") feature Taylor's humor and quaint lyrics.

During the "Step Up To The Microphone" tour, the band featured the drums on a rotating platform that could tilt downward up to 90 degrees. In fact, there were two sets of drums and Peter Furler (the original drummer) and Duncan Phillips would wear seat belts, so they wouldn't fall out, and have a rotating drum-off. This feature is still used on their tours and has grown to be quite popular.

In 2003, Jody Davis left the band to care for his sick daughter, Bethany. For more information, view the with fan site newsboysheadquarters.

In 2006, the band announced that Bryan Olesen would be leaving to work on his own band, Casting Pearls. The band announced in January that Paul Colman would be replacing Bryan.

Members

• Peter Furler
  
  
  
  - vocals, guitar, drums (1985 - Present)
• Phil Joel - bass guitar, vocals (1995 - Present)
• Jeff Frankenstein - keyboards (1994 - Present)
• Duncan Phillips - drums, percussion (1993 - Present)
• Paul Colman - guitar, vocals (2006 - Present)

Former Members

Lead Vocals

• John James (1985-1997 On the albums: Read All About It, Hell Is For Wimps, Boys Will Be Boyz, Not Ashamed, Going Public, Take Me To Your Leader)

Guitar

• George Perdikis (1985-1987 On the albums: Left the band before their first album, but he co-wrote most of the songs on Read All About It)
• Phil Yates(1987-1989 On the album: Read All About It)
• Jonathan Geange (1990-1991 On the album: Hell Is For Wimps)
• Vernon Bishop (1991-1992 On the album: Boys Will Be Boyz)
• Jody Davis (1993-2003 On the albums: Going Public, Take Me To Your Leader, Step Up To The Microphone, Love Liberty Disco, Shine:The Hits, Thrive, Adoration:The Worship Album)
• Bryan Olesen (2003-2006 On the album: Devotion)

Bass Guitar

• Sean Taylor (1985-1992 On the albums: Read All About It, Hell Is For Wimps, Boys Will Be Boyz, Not Ashamed)
• Kevin Mills (1993-1995 On the album: Going Public)

Keyboards

• Corey Pryor (1991-1993 On the albums: Boys Will Be Boyz, Not Ashamed)
• Duncan Phillips (1993-1994) Note: Duncan used to play keys before switching over to percussionist in 1994 when Jeff Frankenstein joined the band and then drums in 1997 after the departure of John James.

Drums

• Peter Furler (1985-1997) Note:Peter used to be drummer before becoming lead vocalist in 1997 after John James left the band. Every now and then Peter will still play drums on occassion.

Discography

• Devotion (2004, Sparrow Records/EMI CMG)
• Adoration:The Worship Album (2003, Sparrow Records)
• Thrive (2002, Sparrow Records)
• Shine:The Hits (2000, Sparrow Records)
• Love Liberty Disco (1999 , Sparrow Records)
• Step Up To The Microphone (1998, Star Song/Virgin Records)
• Take Me To Your Leader (1996, Star Song/Virgin Records)
• Going Public (1994, Star Song)
• Not Ashamed (1992, Star Song)
• Boys Will Be Boyz (1991, Star Song)
• Hell Is For Wimps (1990, Star Song)
• Read All About It (1988, Refuge/Star Song)