Unsung Hero

Album: What Are We Waiting For? (2022)
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Songfacts®:

  • Luke and Joel Smallbone were raised in Sydney, Australia by their concert promoter father David Smallbone and his wife Helen. A tour that David Smallbone organized went wrong, resulting in the family losing everything, so in 1991 they relocated to Nashville. "Unsung Hero" honors the Smallbones' parents' journey, as they recall the sacrifices they made in supporting their children's musical ambitions, and molding them into the men they are now.

    For all the times I fell down you showed me how to stand
    And when we crossed the ocean, you were my safe place to land
    Been on a thousand stages but when it's all said and done
    I hope I make you proud of, of the man that I've become


    "We came to America broke, and it forced us to really bond as a family," Luke Smallbone told Billboard. "We were all Australians in a new country, we all talked weird. Our family has five boys and two girls and we've all just had each other's backs."
  • Luke and Joel's older sister, Rebecca St. James, is also a successful recording artist.
  • Luke and Joel Smallbone co-wrote "Unsung Hero" with Federico Vindver and Seth Mosley. Argentinian Federico Vindver is a jazz pianist who co-wrote all but one track on Kanye West's Jesus Is King album. Seth Mosley is an established producer in Music City, especially in the CCM scene. He won a Grammy Award in the Best Contemporary Christian Music Album category for his production of King & Country's second album, Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong.
  • 2024 saw the release of Unsung Hero, a film co-written and directed by Joel Smallbone. This biographical movie follows the journey of the Smallbone siblings Joel, Luke, and Rebecca as they navigate their lives and careers as Christian recording artists. This song is included on the soundtrack.

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