Matthew Joseph West (born April 25, 1977) is an American Contemporary Christian musician and actor from Nashville, Tennessee. He has released five studio albums and is known for his songs "More", "You Are Everything", and "The Motions". He was nominated for five Dove Awards in 2005, two of which were for his major label debut album Happy. West won the 2013 American Music Award for Best Contemporary Inspirational Artist.Starting as an independent musician in the late 1990s, he released three independent albums before signing with Universal South Records. With the release of his Dove Award-winning debut album Happy, released in 2003, his first radio single, "More", which stayed at No. 1 on Christian AC charts for nine weeks and received two Dove Award nominations. His second album History was followed by a 2006 re-release of the originally independent album Sellout. In 2007 he faced vocal issues that threatened his career with two months of prescribed vocal rest. His third studio album Something to Say also enjoyed chart success with No. 1 hits "You Are Everything" and "The Motions".In addition to his main solo career, West has worked as a songwriter for many Christian musicians and groups such as Point of Grace, Mandisa, and Natalie Grant, Casting Crowns, as well as mainstream country acts Rascal Flatts, Billy Ray Cyrus and Vince Gill. In 2013 his second single "Hello, My Name Is" from the album Into the Light was released and reached at No. 1 for a record-breaking 17 consecutive weeks on the Billboard Christian Songs chart.
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