Jonathan Butler

When Butler speaks of going through a fire, it’s not a metaphor. A candle caused a fire in his California home and Butler suffered second-degree burns rescuing his seven-year-old granddaughter from the blaze. “I wrote ‘Be Encouraged’ the morning of the fire,” Butler shares. “It was five in the morning and I couldn’t sleep. God gave me those words to ‘Be Encouraged.’ God is on the throne. At seven o’clock that night my house was on fire and all I remember is being in an ambulance with burn marks and thinking about the words that God gave me early that morning.” A native of Cape Town, South Africa and the youngest in a family of 12 children, Butler began singing and playing guitar at age seven. Well respected in the jazz and R&B fields, as well as the gospel arena with his iconic Grammy®-nominated hit “Falling In Love With Jesus,” Butler is one of the few artists who successfully and seamlessly blends the genres into his career and live shows. Butler signed his first record deal as a teen and became the first black artist played on white South African radio stations, winning a Sarie Award, the South African equivalent of a Grammy, for the hit single, “Please Stay.” Butler lived in England for 17 years, and today makes his home in California, yet his artistry continues to pay homage to his African roots.