Needtobreathe is an American Christian rock band who has had very good success in the amount of time they have been on the scene. As we’ll see, the band has views very similar to Switchfoot. Let’s dive in.
Is Needtobreathe a Religious Band?
Needtobreathe originated in Seneca, South Carolina. The band is made up of Bear Rinehart who did lead vocals, played piano and guitar, Seth Bolt who did background vocals and played bass, Josh Lovelace who did background vocals, and played keyboard, Randall Harris who played drums and other percussion instruments, and finally Tyler Burkum who played guitar. Of the eight albums the band has released, five of them have reached number 1 on the Christian Albums.
They have also had hits which have hit the charts.. Here’s a short list:
- Washed by the Water-number 1 on the Hot Christian Songs chart
- Multiplied-received Grammy nominations
- Brother-reached the top 100, and number 1 on the Hot Christian Songs chart
- Who Am I-reached number 14 on the Hot Alternative Songs
William Stanley “Bear” Rinehart III and Nathaniel Bryant “Bo” Rinehart grew up in Possum Kingdom, South Carolina, and started performing in Seneca after they moved there. They grew up at a church camp that their dad, who was a Pastor, ran. They performed at coffee houses at Furman University where Bear was a wide receiver on the football team.
After they graduated, Bo, Bear, and Joe Stillwell got together with Seth Bolt and began releasing independent albums. These albums were recorded at Bolt’s Plantation Studios. They came up with the name Needtobreathe, which is based on a Greek demonstrative parable of Socrates that was related to seeking God.
Needtobreathe released an independent album in 2001 entitled, The Feature, which contained eleven songs. Two years later, they released an EP called Soulrock Review. Then they released two more EPs called Fire and Turnaround.
These EPs brought Needtobreathe to the attention of Lava Records, which is owned by Universal Music Group. They signed the band in 2005.
The band signed with Atlantic Records and Sparrow Records and went to the UK to record their very first studio album. The album was entitled Daylight, which was produced by Andy Green. The first single, You Are Here, had been released on the EP Fire. It was released in 2006.
The second album was called Heat and was released in 2007. Because of that album, Needtobreathe was nominated for two Dove awards. Of those awards, one was for the song Signature of Divine (Yahweh) for “Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year”. The album received a nomination for “Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year”.
The next album, The Outsiders, was released in 2009. It got as high as number 6 on the Billboard 200 and number 2 on the Hot Christian Albums chart. They had singles such as Something Beautiful and Hurricane which gained recognition on various charts.
The album The Reckoning was released in 2011 and rose to number 6 on The Billboard 200. After this album was released, the band went on tour with Taylor Swift as the opening act on her Speak Now World tour.
Rivers in the Wasteland was the next album and was released in 2014. It debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200, number 1 on the Christian Albums chart, number 1 Rock Album, and number 6 on the Canadian Albums chart. The album’s original title was supposed to be Wasteland and was based on Isaiah 43:19, which says:
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland. (NIV)
Hard Love came out in 2016 and started at number 1 on the Top Album Sales chart and number 2 on the Billboard 200 with 50,000 units sold. Of that number, 46,000 were traditional album sales.
In 2017, Needtobreathe opened for Faith Hill and Tim McGraw on their Soul2Soul The World Tour. Also, a deluxe edition of Hard Love was released the same year and featured songs not previously released: Cages, Count on Me, and Waiting.
Bo Rinehart left the band in 2020 and was replaced by Tyler Burum. The first album released after Bo’s departure was Out of Body. By this time, the album was released under Elektra Records. The album had 5 singles: Seasons, Hang On, Survival, Who Am I, and Banks.
Because of COVID, there was no tour for that album. Instead, in 2021, they released another studio album called Into the Mystery. This album featured artists such as Jon Foreman of Switchfoot, Natalie Hemby, and country music superstar Carrie Underwood. The album topped at number 1 on Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart, making it their fifth number 1 album.
As we have seen, they have entered both the Christian and secular music worlds. They see it as an opportunity, like Switchfoot, to reach more people.
What kind of music is NeedToBreathe?
The band identifies themselves as a rock band even though they have been classified as Christian Rock despite the fact they have been with various mainstream labels. They have had success on various radio stations, which includes Christian Adult Contemporary radio stations.
They have been quoted as saying, “That one in particular is especially limiting. To me, I think people pass over the band all the time because they read that….I hate the idea that they somehow feel like I didn’t make the music for them, that we didn’t play music for everyone. Christian record deals came and we said no to all of them. Waited a couple years until the right record deal came, which was Atlantic, which we’ve been on ever since. But we just said to them in passing when we first started, we want the records to be available to everyone.”
NeedToBreathe band Christian Songs
Songs of Needtobreathe include:
- Brother
- I Am Yours
- Multiplied
- Who Am I
- Something Beautiful
- Difference Maker
Is NeedToBreathe a satanic band?
There is no evidence NeedtoBreathe is a satanic band. The fact they recorded under mainstream labels and opened for mainstream artists does not make them a satanic band. Like Switchfoot, they feel their music is for everyone. Being in the mainstream world allows them to reach people that would not be reached if they were strictly under a Christian label.
Conclusion
Needtobreathe has a number of songs that does not mention the Christian faith specifically. However, it’s up to each individual to determine whether their songs are Christian or not.
The fact that some of their songs are this way might be by design. After all, as I’ve said before, you have to meet people where they are in order to reach them for Jesus. Let’s face it, constantly brow-beating the Bible into people is not witnessing effectively. You have to ease into it.