Sparrow Records

History[edit]

Sparrow Records was founded in 1976 by Billy Ray Hearn, then artists and repertoire (A&R) director at Myrrh Records.^[1] Barry McGuire was the first artist signed to the record, followed quickly by John Michael Talbot and his brother Terry, Janny Grein, and Annie Herring of 2nd Chapter of Acts; all of whom released albums with Sparrow in May of that year.^[2] Sparrow Records rose to prominence with the signing of singer, songwriter, Contemporary Christian musician, and minister Keith Green. Within a year of his 1976 signing by Sparrow, Green was the top selling Christian artist in America.


Purchased by Thorn EMI in 1992, Sparrow's parent underwent a demerger four years later to become the EMI Group,^[3][4] and the label is now part of the Capitol Christian Music Group.^[5]


As of 2009, Sparrow's artists include Britt Nicole, Chris Tomlin, Mandisa, Matt Redman, Matthew West, Steven Curtis Chapman and Switchfoot. Since 1996, a popular production of Sparrow Records has been the annual WOW Hits contemporary Christian music series. In 1998, the WOW franchise then added the annual WOW Gospel series of albums. The WOW Worship series was introduced in 1999, an annual compilation of the greatest hits in contemporary worship music.