Newsboys

Based on Wikipedia: Newsboys

In January 2025, Michael Tait announced he was stepping down as lead singer of Newsboys. The statement was brief and vague, citing personal reasons. Five months later, three men came forward with allegations of sexual assault spanning a decade. The band that had built its identity around songs like "God's Not Dead" was suddenly confronting accusations that suggested something had been very wrong behind the curtain for a very long time.

But before we get to that ending, we need to understand what Newsboys was—and why its fall matters to so many people.

Garage Band on the Sunshine Coast

The story begins in 1985, in Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia. If you're picturing some gritty urban scene, recalibrate. Mooloolaba sits on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, a stretch of Australian coastline famous for its beaches and surf culture. It's the kind of place where teenagers spend their afternoons chasing waves, not necessarily rehearsing in garages.

Yet that's exactly what Peter Furler and his schoolmate George Perdikis were doing. Two teenagers, working out songs in a garage, dreaming of something bigger. They added Furler's best friend John James and a bassist named Sean Taylor. They called themselves Newsboys—a name that would outlast every single one of them in the band.

By late 1987, they'd caught the attention of Refuge Communications, an American Christian music label. The band relocated to the United States, and in 1988 released their debut album, Read All About It.

Nobody much cared.

The Years of Obscurity

The early Newsboys releases tell a story familiar to anyone who's watched a band struggle to find its footing. They signed with Star Song Communications and put out Hell Is for Wimps in 1990, followed by Boys Will Be Boyz in 1991. The lineup kept changing. The albums kept underperforming. Christian music in the early nineties was still finding its commercial identity, and Newsboys was just another act trying to break through.

The breakthrough came in 1992 with Not Ashamed, an album that included a cover of the DeGarmo & Key song "Boycott Hell." More importantly, it marked the beginning of a partnership with Steve Taylor, a singer-songwriter and producer who would shape the band's sound for years to come. Taylor wrote most of the lyrics while Furler handled the music. The collaboration worked.

But "worked" isn't the same as "succeeded." That would take two more years.

The Shine Era

In 1994, everything changed.

The band released Going Public, their fifth album. The lineup had stabilized somewhat, with the addition of guitarist Jody Davis and drummer Duncan Phillips—both of whom would remain with the band for decades. The album won a Dove Award for Rock Album of the Year. More importantly, it produced four number-one hits on Christian radio charts.

The biggest of these was "Shine."

If you grew up in evangelical Christian circles in the 1990s, you know this song. It's the kind of track that defined an era—bouncy, optimistic, impossible to get out of your head. In 2006, CCM Magazine (Contemporary Christian Music Magazine, the industry's primary trade publication) ranked "Shine" in the top ten of its list of the 100 greatest songs in Christian music history. For many fans, it remains the Newsboys' signature song, the one that plays in their heads when they hear the band's name.

The 1996 follow-up, Take Me to Your Leader, expanded the lineup further with bassist Phil Joel and keyboardist Jeff Frankenstein. Three more pop number-one hits. Two rock number-one hits. A Dove Award for album packaging. The album even spawned a movie, Down Under the Big Top, based on the song "Reality."

Newsboys had become one of the biggest names in Christian music.

The Secret Behind the Success

Late in 1997, after completing the tour for Take Me to Your Leader, lead singer John James announced he was leaving the band to pursue a preaching ministry.

That was the official story.

A decade later, James told UK Christian magazine Cross Rhythms what had really happened: he'd been pushed out. The reason was drugs and alcohol. James admitted he'd been drinking at least one carton of alcohol per day—that's twelve bottles of wine, or twenty-four cans of beer, depending on what was in the carton. He sometimes took the stage while under the influence. By the time they were recording vocals for Step Up to the Microphone, other band members had noticed something was seriously wrong.

This is worth pausing on. Christian music occupies a peculiar space in American culture. The artists are expected to be role models, their personal lives aligned with the messages in their songs. When that alignment breaks down, the response from the industry and its audience can be swift and unforgiving. James's addiction was kept quiet. He was eased out. The band moved on.

Furler shifted from drums to lead vocals. Duncan Phillips moved from keyboards and percussion to the drum kit. The new configuration—Furler, Phil Joel, Jody Davis, Jeff Frankenstein, and Phillips—would remain stable from 1998 to 2003, the longest period of lineup consistency in the band's history.

Disco, Departure, and Devotion

The late nineties and early 2000s saw Newsboys experimenting. Love Liberty Disco in 1999 was exactly what the title suggests—a disco-influenced album that represented a significant departure from their pop rock sound. The album underperformed, but the tour was popular, featuring an inflatable venue called the Air Dome.

In 1999, Furler co-founded Inpop Records, an independent Christian music label. This kind of business move would prove prescient as the traditional label system began to erode in the digital age.

The band found its footing again with Thrive in 2002. The album produced two number-one singles, including "It Is You," a worship song that became one of their biggest hits to date. The success of that track pointed toward a new direction: Newsboys would increasingly incorporate praise and worship music into their catalog, releasing Adoration: The Worship Album in 2003 and Devotion in 2004.

This wasn't just artistic evolution. It was market adaptation. Praise and worship music—the kind of songs sung congregationally in church services—had become enormously popular. Bands like Hillsong from Australia and Chris Tomlin as a solo artist were dominating Christian music. Newsboys, ever the survivors, adjusted their sound accordingly.

The Carousel of Guitarists

One of the strangest aspects of Newsboys' history is the revolving door at the guitarist position. Jody Davis left in late 2003 and was replaced by Bryan Olesen. Olesen left in 2006 to focus on his own band, Casting Pearls, and was replaced by Paul Colman. Colman left in early 2009 to return to solo work, and Davis came back after a five-year absence.

Through all of this, the band kept touring, kept recording, kept producing hits. They released GO in 2006, contributed songs to VeggieTales movies, put out greatest hits compilations, and maintained their position as one of Christian music's most reliable acts.

The Atheist Co-Founder

In 2007, something happened that received relatively little attention at the time but speaks to the complicated relationship between Christian artists and their faith.

George Perdikis—one of the two teenagers who had started the band in that Mooloolaba garage back in 1985—renounced Christianity and declared himself an atheist.

To be clear, Perdikis hadn't been involved with Newsboys for seventeen years at that point. He had no connection to any of their successful albums or hit singles. His departure from the band had come so early that most fans had never heard of him. But there's something symbolically potent about a co-founder of one of Christian music's most successful bands publicly abandoning the faith that music was meant to promote.

The band didn't comment publicly on Perdikis's announcement. They had more pressing concerns. Peter Furler, who had been with Newsboys since the very beginning—who was Newsboys in many ways—was preparing to step back.

The Tait Era Begins

In 2009, it was announced that Furler would transition to a support role, continuing as the band's primary songwriter and producer but no longer touring as the frontman. After nearly twenty-five years of road work, he wanted to focus on the studio side of the operation.

The question of who would replace him was answered on March 9, 2009: Michael Tait, formerly of dc Talk.

This was a significant get. dc Talk had been one of the most successful Christian groups of the 1990s, a trio that blended hip-hop, rock, and pop in ways that had broad crossover appeal. Tait brought name recognition, vocal ability, and a different energy than Furler had provided. His first full concert as Newsboys' lead singer came on March 17, 2009, in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

When Furler made his final guest appearance with the band on September 11 of that year—at a concert in Orlando—it marked the end of an era. For the first time in their history, Newsboys contained no original members.

Commercial Peak

Whatever concerns fans might have had about the transition, the numbers were reassuring. Born Again, released in July 2010, debuted at number four on the Billboard 200—the band's highest chart position ever. It sold over 45,000 copies in its first week.

The Tait era would prove commercially successful by almost any measure. God's Not Dead came out in November 2011, its title track becoming an anthem for a certain strain of Christian apologetics—the branch of theology concerned with defending religious doctrines through systematic argument. Restart followed in 2013.

Then came the movies.

God's Not Dead (The Film Franchise)

In 2014, Newsboys appeared in a sequence for a film called God's Not Dead, named after their song. The movie tells the story of a college freshman whose faith is challenged by an atheist philosophy professor. The student must prove God's existence to the class or fail the course.

The film was not subtle. Critics were not kind. But it grossed over sixty million dollars on a two-million-dollar budget, making it one of the most profitable films of the year relative to its cost.

Newsboys appeared in the sequel, God's Not Dead 2, in 2016, and in God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness in 2018. The films turned the band into something more than a musical act—they became symbols of a particular kind of evangelical Christian cultural engagement, one that positioned faith as embattled and believers as righteous underdogs fighting against secular institutions.

Reunion Tour

In late 2017, an announcement generated significant excitement among longtime fans: Peter Furler and Phil Joel would rejoin Newsboys for a "United" tour in 2018. An album of the same name followed in May 2019.

For many who had followed the band since the "Shine" days, this was the Newsboys reunion they'd wanted—the classic-era members sharing the stage with the current lineup. The tour continued through August 2021.

Two months later, the band released their twentieth album, Stand.

New Blood

In March 2023, Newsboys announced that Adam Agee would be joining as the fifth member. Agee had previously fronted Stellar Kart and Audio Adrenaline, both Christian rock bands with their own substantial followings. He wasn't replacing anyone—Tait was still the lead singer. Agee was being added to the roster.

The band released "He Lives" as a digital single to mark Agee's arrival. They announced a two-part album called World Wide Revival. Part one came out in July 2024. Everything seemed to be proceeding normally.

Then, on January 16, 2025, Michael Tait posted a statement on social media saying he was stepping down as lead singer of Newsboys.

The statement mentioned "living a double life." It did not elaborate.

Adam Agee stepped into the lead vocalist role. The band released "How Many Times (Oh How You Love Me)" as their first single with Agee fronting. In May 2025, they put out a deluxe edition of World Wide Revival that included songs re-recorded with Agee's vocals replacing Tait's.

And then, in June 2025, the other shoe dropped.

The Allegations

Three different men came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against Michael Tait. The alleged assaults spanned a decade: 2004, 2010, and 2014.

The remaining members of Newsboys issued a statement. They acknowledged that Tait had confessed to "living a double life" as his reason for leaving but claimed they had been unaware of the specific allegations before the public reports. They expressed support for the victims and encouraged others to come forward.

Two days later, they amended their statement. Actually, they admitted, they had heard rumors of Tait's behavior over the years. They had confronted him about it. He had denied everything.

The response from Christian radio was immediate and varied. Some stations removed all Newsboys music from rotation. Others allowed material recorded before 2009, when Tait joined—effectively treating the pre-Tait and post-Tait versions of the band as separate entities. Some stations permitted the newly re-recorded 2025 material featuring Agee. Others, including KLVR, banned the band outright, holding the remaining members responsible for what they saw as complicity in Tait's actions.

On June 10, Tait released a public statement admitting to the allegations. He apologized to the victims, to the band, and to everyone else affected. He said that part of his reason for departing had been to seek treatment and counseling. He vowed to pursue "repentance and spiritual healing" away from the stage.

Nine days later, a woman came forward anonymously to The Roys Report, a publication covering accountability and abuse in Christian organizations. She alleged that in December 2014, she had been drugged by Tait and then sexually assaulted by the Newsboys' lighting technician, Matthew Brewer, in a hotel room while Tait watched. She claimed that the Newsboys' tour manager, Steve Campbell, had helped cover up the assault. She said she had reported it to police at the time, but no action was taken. She provided hotel security footage to back her account.

What It Means

Newsboys is not the first Christian act to be rocked by scandal, and it won't be the last. But the scope and nature of the allegations—and the admission that other band members had heard rumors and done nothing—raises questions that go beyond one man's behavior.

Christian music has long operated on the assumption that its artists are, at some fundamental level, different from secular musicians. The songs are about faith, hope, salvation. The concerts often include altar calls, moments where audience members are invited to commit or recommit their lives to Christ. The relationship between artist and fan is implicitly spiritual, not just commercial.

When that relationship is violated—when it turns out that someone singing about God's love was allegedly assaulting people in hotel rooms—the betrayal cuts deeper than it might in other genres. The fans weren't just buying music. They were trusting that the messenger believed the message.

The band continues. Adam Agee is now the frontman. Jody Davis, Jeff Frankenstein, and Duncan Phillips remain. Of the original 1985 lineup, none have been involved for decades. Of the classic "Shine" era lineup, only Davis and Phillips are left, and both joined in 1994, nine years after the band formed.

Newsboys, in other words, is now a name attached to a rotating cast of musicians, a brand more than a band. The music plays on. The question is whether anyone will want to listen.

The Ship of Theseus Problem

There's an ancient philosophical puzzle called the Ship of Theseus. If you replace every plank of a ship over time, one by one, is it still the same ship? And if you took all the original planks and built a new ship from them, which one would be the "real" Ship of Theseus?

Newsboys presents a version of this puzzle. The band that exists today shares a name with the band that Peter Furler and George Perdikis started in a Mooloolaba garage forty years ago. It shares some of the same songs in its catalog. But it shares no personnel. The two founders are both long gone—one to a behind-the-scenes role he has since largely abandoned, the other to atheism.

John James, the original lead singer, left in disgrace after a secret addiction. Michael Tait, the man who replaced Peter Furler as the band's public face, has now left in even greater disgrace after secret assaults. The pattern is troubling: men singing songs about redemption and grace while living lives that contradicted every word.

What remains is the name, the catalog, and a few musicians who've managed to stay out of scandal. Whether that's enough to constitute a band—and whether anyone should care—is a question each listener will have to answer for themselves.

The garage on the Sunshine Coast is long gone. The surf still rolls in at Mooloolaba, indifferent to what became of the two teenagers who once practiced there, dreaming of something bigger. They got it. It just wasn't what any of them expected.