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The Afters is an American Christian rock band founded by Josh Havens and Matt Fuqua. Havens and Fuqua first worked together in a Starbucks coffee shop in Mesquite, Texas, where they performed songs for customers before deciding to form a band. They were initially joined by Brad Wigg from the same Starbucks and drummer Michael Burden and performed with the name Blisse. When Burden left the band, Marc Dodd, who also worked at the Mesquite Starbucks stepped in. Their song "Never Going Back to OK" was the most-played song on R&R magazine's Christian CHR chart for 2008. 2008 Year End Charts/Top Christian CHR songs , R&R magazine, Retrieved January 6, 2009
Under the name Blisse, the band recorded a six-song EP in 2000. From the recording they made enough money to cut their first album, When the World Is Wonderful, which was released independently in 2001. This album contains songs also released on their major label debut album I Wish We All Could Win. In 2002 they released a live concert DVD filmed at a local Dallas club called The Door.
The band changed its name after discovering that another "Blisse" already existed. Settling on "The Afters", they continued to play local clubs in the Dallas area. Eventually they were discovered by INO Records and signed to a four-record deal. Word of the band later got to Epic Records, who signed the band to a deal for mainstream promotion and distribution. Their first major label album, I Wish We All Could Win, was released on February 22, 2005. The first single from the album was "Beautiful Love", written by Josh Havens about a time when his wife was abroad doing humanitarian aid. The single's music video won The Afters a 2005 MTVu "Streaming Woodie" award. In addition, "Beautiful Love" became the theme song for the MTV show, 8th and Ocean about the careers of female and male fashion models living in Miami. The song was also featured in the 2006 film, Just My Luck. The song "Until the World" was the theme song for the American drama television series that aired on the ABC Family Network Beautiful People.
In an update posted on their official website, the band went into the studio in August 2006 to begin recording their second album, Never Going Back to OK. It was originally scheduled to be released on December 26, 2007, as per a post on their MySpace blog, but was ultimately delayed and released on February 26, 2008. Never Going Back To OK by The Afters NewReleaseTuesday.com, retrieved February 2, 2008
The first single from the album, the title track "Never Going Back to OK" was premiered on October 16, 2007, on Total Axxess. It was released as a streaming file on The Afters' MySpace page on November 10, 2007. The song was on the R&R magazine charts in December 2007. It reached No. 1 on the R&R CHR chart in March 2008; March 8, 2008 R&R chart as reported at Weekend 22; Retrieved March 11, 2008. R&R magazine ranked it as the most played song on U.S. Christians CHR radio in 2008. In the spring of 2008, the band began their own headlining tour along with Falling Up, Ruth, and Everyday Sunday.
The Afters said in their Twitter account that they started recording their next album on October 27, 2009. We officially started recording our new album today! by The Afters Twitter.com 2009 The album, called Light Up the Sky, was released on September 14, 2010. Christiansonic.net Retrieved June 14, 2010 The album's first single, the title track reached No. 1 on Billboard's Christian CHR radio and also appeared on MTV's The Hills.
In January 2011 The Afters joined the Rock And Worship Roadshow national tour headlined by MercyMe. Light Up the Sky was produced by Dan Muckala. They announced a new album to be released on April 17, 2012. A month later, they released a new single entitled "Life is Beautiful" on iTunes; the song was part of the soundtrack for the movie October Baby. On February 19, 2013, a new single, "Every Good Thing", became available on iTunes. The new album's title was Life is Beautiful.
On August 28, 2015, the band released "Live on Forever", the lead single from Live on Forever, their fifth studio album set for release in late 2016 on Fair Trade Records.
In 2018, "Well Done" appeared on the Billboard 100, followed by "I Will Fear No More" on October 19, 2018. Both songs were advance releases for The Beginning & Everything After, their greatest hits album released on November 2, 2018, and for Fear No More, their sixth studio album released on May 31, 2019, and the band's last album with drummer Jordan Mohilowski. On December 3, 2021, the band released their first live album, Where Heaven Touches Earth: Live at The Grove which was recorded in Arizona.
On January 14, 2022, the band released "Say Goodbye (Say Hello)". On October 28, 2022, the band released "This Is Our Moment". On August 11, 2023, the band released "God Is With Us". On April 26, 2024, the band released "What God is Gonna Do", a song that they wrote for their kids.
On December 13, 2024, The Afters released a non-album single, "You Never Gave Up On Me". It experienced mild success in the United States, peaking at Nos. 16 and 17 on the Billboard Christian Airplay and Christian Adult Contemporary charts, respectively. Internationally, it rose to prominence in Australia. Today's Christian Music (TCM) reported it to be the most played song on Christian radio stations in Australia, and spending fourteen weeks leading TCM's Australian Christian Songs chart, which Woodlands Media reported to be "one of the most dominant performances in TCM history."
Touring members
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart |
!scope="row" | "Shadows" | 2017 | — | — | — | 7 | — | — | ||
!scope="row" | "Well Done" | 2018 | — | — | 14 | 11 | — | — | Fear No More | |
!rowspan="3" | 2006 | New Artist of the Year | |
| Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year ("Beautiful Love") | |||
| Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year ( I Wish We All Could Win) | |||
!rowspan="3" | 2009 | Song of the Year ("Never Going Back to OK") | |
| Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year ("Never Going Back to OK") | |||
| Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year ( Never Going Back to OK) | |||
!rowspan="2" | 2016 | Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year ("Live on Forever") | |
| Short Form Video of the Year ( Live on Forever) |
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