Miracles and Mysteries: For KING + COUNTRY Singer's Powerful Mission to Inspire After 'Unsung Hero'
For KING + COUNTRY is undoubtedly one of the most popular inspirational bands of the modern era, with lead singers — and brothers — Joel and Luke Smallbone entertaining the masses through music, movies, and live tour experiences.
The duo most recently saw their family’s incredible journey conveyed in the major motion picture, “Unsung Hero,” released earlier this year now streaming on Starz. Months later, they’re traveling across America on the 31-city “For KING + COUNTRY LIVE: The UNSUNG HERO 2024 Tour,” performing music from the film and offering faith-inspiring messages to audiences.
The Smallbones’ work is a fusion of art, faith, encouragement, innovation, and grit.
Joel Smallbone told “Higher Ground With Billy Hallowell” that he and Luke are “trying to create awe-inspiring environments” through their music and performances:
And it’s not lost on him that For KING + COUNTRY is bringing out these messages of hope during a “very tumultuous time for this country.” It’s a responsibility and honor Smallbone doesn’t take lightly.
“We get to pull people into a room that vote, think, look, act different from one another — different beliefs, different points of view, and yet we can come together for two and a half hours and have this … emotional, relational, spiritual moment together,” he said. “I’m really proud of it, and I think that’s part of the deep purpose of it.”
Smallbone said the next few months will be difficult, as the election will leave “half of America” encouraged and half downtrodden, regardless of what unfolds. He said the ability to be able to cut through that impending noise musically and to encourage is a “profound” opportunity.
“There’s a lot of people that are making a lot of statements right now,” Smallbone said. “I’ve been guilty of it just as much as the next man or woman, but there’s not a lot of space for people just to sit in … the celebration that we have breath in our lungs — to celebrate the fact that, no matter which way politics of this country turn, that we still live in a beautiful land, and I’m really proud to be in this country.”
As for “Unsung Hero,” Joel Smallbone said the movie is close to his heart, especially considering it’s his parents’ “migration story.” The film shows the trials and tribulations the Smallbone family encountered when they left their native Australia and arrived in America.
They had little more than their love for one another yet somehow survived — and thrived. Their daughter Rebecca St. James became a monumentally popular Christian singer and Joel and Luke went on to found For KING + COUNTRY, with additional siblings also working in the arts.
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But “Unsung Hero” is a project that might not have happened had they listened to critics. Despite making more than $21 million at the box office, some tried to dissuade the Smallbones from making it.
“We’d had other people in the industry … say … ‘This is a terrible idea,'” Smallbone said. “Don’t do this.”
The Smallbones, answering their call, felt their family’s “sacred story” needed to be told, so they ignored the warnings and pressed on with “Unsung Hero.”
“[It’s the story of] my dad losing everything when he was 40 in Australia, and going bankrupt, and being offered a job over here — and six kids and one on the way,” he said. “And music, and miracles, and migration, and motherhood, and all of these things wrapped on it.”
Ultimately, the dedication to “Unsung Hero” paid off and audiences responded, making it a top-rated movie of 2024, with a Rotton Tomatoes audience score of 99%. Fans have called the movie “wholesome,” “powerful,” and “an incredible story of faith and perseverance.”
Smallbone, who portrays his own father in the film, merged the arts of music, acting, and filmmaking to bring the powerful transformation story to life.
“I feel like I’ve dedicated my whole life to the arts, and really there were three things that I’ve done with my life,” he said. “I’ve really aimed to understand the mystery of God, I’ve really aimed to love my wife as well as I can, and I’ve really aimed to … offer to the world this art.”
Smallbone teased some upcoming announcements, including four residencies beginning Dec. 1 at London’s O2 Indigo, New York, Nashville, and Los Angeles as part of their “A Drummer Boy Christmas” tour experience.
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