March 26, 2002: Newsboys released their album Thrive

Published on march 26th, 2022 | by Anthony Martinez

On March 26, 2002, the Australian band Newsboys, released their ninth studio album, Thrive, one of their most acclaimed albums that brought classic songs such as It is you, Million Pieces or Live in Stereo.

The album was released on Sparrow Records and was produced by Steve Taylor, Peter Furler and Joe Baldridge. Thirive was released after 3 years since the band had released Love Liberty Disco in 1999, after its release, Thrive reached no. 38 on the Billboard 200 Chart. 

Thrive Front Cover

Nine of the 10 songs on the album were written by Peter and the legendary Steve Taylor. It was also the penultimate album where guitarist Jody Davis was involved in leaving the band after releasing the album Adoration in 2003, although Jody returned to the band in 2009.

It Is You, written by Peter Furler, became Newsboys' biggest hit at the time, a worship song that was also put on their next album in 2003. A music video for their song Million Pieces (Kissin' Your Cares Goodbye) was also released. 

Thrive: From The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum DVD

In the early 2000s, the DVD format was quite popular and Newsboys was not far behind. On June 18 of the same year the live DVD of the band performing at the Monumental Museum and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was released. This was the first time a Christian artist had performed at this venue since Phil Keaggy performed with his former band Glass Harp in 1997.

The DVD features Newsboys performing eight of the ten songs from their album Thrive, there is also an appearance by Michael Tait performing the song The Fad of the Land along with Peter Furler, a nice moment seeing a DC Talk along with Newsboys, but somewhat embarrassing due to Michael not knowing the lyrics to the song and having the album booklet to read, however I consider it turned out to be a pretty funny moment, you wouldn't believe it if it wasn't recorded on video.

In 2003, Newsboys were nominated for a Dove Award in the Long Form Music Video of the Year category for their DVD.

The song Live in Stereo was featured in Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure video game. In addition, in 2005, a special edition of Thrive was released containing the CD and DVD. 

DVD Front Cover