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Benny Ray Hester (born May 3, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and recording artist. He is best known for his songs "When God Ran" and "Nobody Knows Me Like You", and for producing the teen sketch comedy and dance television series Roundhouse. Hester received a television CableACE Award for the song "I Can Dream" and a collection of nominations for writing and producing an original song for each weekly episode of Roundhouse during its four-year run.
Hester's song "When God Ran" is one of the longest-running number one songs in Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) history; it was number one for 13 weeks, and the third most successful song in the history of Word Records.
The title track from Hester's third album, "Nobody Knows Me Like You", reached number one on Christian Music Charts and became the first CCM song to break the Billboard Top 50 Adult Contemporary Chart, debuting at number 44 on November 7, 1981.
Hester's first CCM singles, "Jesus Came Into My Life" and "Be A Receiver", were breakthrough recordings for radio, blurring the lines between Pop rock, Rock music and inspirational music, and becoming the first contemporary pop rock songs to be universally accepted and widely played across all Christian Radio formats. His 1978 debut album Benny Hester, re-released in 1982 as Be A Receiver, influenced the burgeoning CCM scene as the musical landscape shifted with the end of the Jesus Music era and the birth of the industry known as "Contemporary Christian Music".
Hester was hired to play in the stage band and orchestra for the musical Texas, and stayed with the show for two years. At the same time, with partner Steve Hilton, he founded the duo Hester & Hilton. While playing El Paso, Hester was asked to write two songs for a recording session by the group The Sojourners. In 1970, the songs, "Life Developing Slide" and "Our Way To Go", were produced by Norman Petty and recorded at his recording studio in Clovis, New Mexico.
Hester taught music at a private music school, recorded Hester & Hilton demos with Maher at United Recording and, with Maher, formed a jingle agency, MusAd. They created, for example, the song for Hickory Farms, and the slogan for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Maher produced Hester's first two albums, Benny..., and his first CCM album for Billy Ray Hearn's Sparrow Records, Benny Hester. Hester had become a Christian while attending an evangelical rally; his spiritual awakening resulted in the song "We All Know He's Coming", recorded with Elvis Presley’s TCB Band. It was the TCB band which played on Benny..., however the finished masters and packaged albums were lost in the fire that destroyed United Recording. Hester's first album was never released but a remastered version, made from Hester's promotional copy of the original, was released on February 19, 2016. A track from the album, "No the End is Not Near" was featured in the fifth season of the HBO show Girls.
Hester went on to release songs and albums, and perform thousands of concerts. His recording of his song “When God Ran” is the longest running number one song in Contemporary Christian Music history, spending 13 weeks at number one on Christian Radio and topping both the AC and CHR Charts. When another single from the same album, "Secret Thoughts", made it to number one on the Rock music, Hester had three simultaneous chart toppers, a feat which had never been achieved in Christian music. “When God Ran” was the number one most played Christian Adult Contemporary radio hit of 1986, and number three for the decade. “When God Ran” continues to be recorded by artists in many genres; a version recorded by The Kingsmen took the number one spot on the Southern Gospel Charts in February 2009 and was nominated as Gospel Music Song Of The Year.
Other top Benny Hester songs include "Nobody Knows Me Like You", "Christ The Solid Rock", "Rubber Canoe", "Come Back", "Goodbye Salty", "Legacy", "Whoever Touches You", "Streets Of Las Vegas", "Can I Get To You From Here", "No Man's Land", "Step By Step", "To Fill Our Empty Hearts", "Real Change", "Melody Man", "Hold Me", "Jesus Came Into My Life", "Be A Receiver", "Sure Of Your Call", "The Door", "Squeeze You", "We All Know He's Comin'", "Out Of The Natural", "Underground River", "Remember Me", "Caught Away" and "You Weren't Meant To Live Your Life Alone".
Following a 2001 pitch to the Disney Channel, by Roundhouse producers, of the show Rock and Roland, in which a junior high boy was a "normal kid by day, rock star by night”, and after the producers provided additional scenes and a plan for marketing the music from the show through Disney's Hollywood Records, the Disney Channel’s Rich Ross and Adam Bonnett publicly took credit for the success of Disney’s lucrative franchise Hannah Montana. A 2007 complaint filed against Disney claimed that Rock and Roland was misappropriated by Disney and produced under the name Hannah Montana. In 2008, Disney settled the legal claim a month before the trial was to begin.
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