Musical beginnings (1990–1995) In 1990, at age 12, St. James opened shows for fellow
CCM artist
Carman during his Australian tour. The next year she did an
independent album,
Refresh My Heart, in Australia under the stage name "Rebecca Jean". Soon after its release, her family moved to
Nashville, Tennessee, United States, in 1991, where her father received a job offer. In 1993, after singing at First Baptist Church of Franklin in
Franklin, Tennessee (now Church of the City), she signed with
ForeFront Records and took her stage name at the label's request. In 1994 she released her major label debut:
Rebecca St. James. She also released the
Rebecca St. James: Extended Play Remixes EP in 1995.
God, Christmas, and Pray (1996–1999) On 25 June 1996, St. James released her third studio album
God, led by the
title track. The album took her music in a new direction, focusing more on rock. It debuted to positive reviews and debuted at 200, and peaked at 168 on the
Billboard 200. It also charted at No. 10 on the
Billboard Heatseekers chart and No. 6 on
Billboard's Contemporary Christian chart. To promote the album, St. James released a devotion book,
40 Days with God: A Devotional Journey, in 1996. In 1997, St. James released the sequel to her devotional book: ''You're the Voice: 40 More Days with God
. On October 7 of the same year, she released her fourth studio album and first holiday album, Christmas. The album charted at No. 12 on Billboard'''s
Top Heatseekers chart and No. 14 on the Top Contemporary Christian chart. On 20 October 1998, St. James released her fifth studio album,
Pray, which debuted to mixed reviews. The album managed to chart at No. 168 on the
Billboard 200, and No. 5 on both the Heatseekers Chart and the Contemporary Christian Chart. In 1999, St. James released "
Yes, I Believe In God" to radio only, in memory of the lives lost at the
Columbine shooting. The song was later released on the album
Wait for Me: The Best from Rebecca St. James. Also in 1999, St. James released a video on VHS,
No Secrets, featuring interviews of her and her family, behind-the-scenes footage and the music video for the song "Pray". In addition to her own projects, St. James took part in a CD release,
Heaven & Earth: A Tapestry of Worship, which featured female Christian artists such as
Nichole Nordeman and
Jennifer Knapp. The album was released in November 1999 and features two songs by St. James; "As We Wait" and "River of Life". She also contributed a remix of her song "Omega" to the CCM compilation
Listen:Louder.
Transform, Worship God and Live Worship: Blessed Be Your Name (2000–2004) In June 2000, St. James released a cover of the song "
Shout to the Lord" on the CCM compilation album
Eterne: Never Be the Same. The song was later made available on St. James' live record,
Live Worship: Blessed Be Your Name, as an embedded hidden track. On 24 October 2000, St. James released her sixth studio album,
Transform. The album charted at No. 166 on the
Billboard 200, No. 7 on the Heatseekers Chart, and No. 14 on the Contemporary Christian Chart. The album garnered positive reviews and featured the songs "
Wait for Me" and "
Reborn". Also in 2000, St. James made a
cameo in the film
Left Behind: The Movie. A year later, the
devotional book,
40 Days with God was re-released with a new layout and five new devotions. Also in 2001, St. James contributed to the CCM compilation album
The Prayer of a Jabez with the song "Lead Me Away", which is a duet with
Michael Tait. In 2002, to promote the single "
Wait For Me" from
Transform, St. James released the book
Wait for Me: Rediscovering the Joy of Purity in Romance, which went on to sell over 100,000 copies and spawn a
journal and
study guide. The song and book promotes
sexual abstinence before marriage, and St. James has since become a major spokesperson for the subject. On 12 February 2002, St. James released a cover of the
Keith Green song "Your Love Broke Through" on the compilation album
Your Love Broke Through: The Worship Songs Of Keith Green. The song is a duet with
Phil Keaggy. Two weeks later, on 26 February 2002, St. James released her seventh studio album,
Worship God. The album debuted to extremely positive reviews and charted at No. 94 on the
Billboard 200, marking St. James' first Top 100 album, and No. 5 on the Contemporary Christian chart. On 25 March 2003, after 10 years with
ForeFront Records, St. James released her first compilation project,
Wait for Me: The Best from Rebecca St. James, which features 16 of her most popular songs and two new ones, including "I Thank You" which managed to peak at No. 2 on
Billboard's Hot Christian Songs chart. The album failed to make the
Billboard 200, but charted at No. 16 on the Contemporary Christian chart. Later that year, St. James released a compilation album,
The Best of Rebecca St. James, and her book ''SHE: Safe, Healthy, Empowered: The Woman You're Made to Be
. Also in 2004, St. James starred in the stage musical !Hero'' as a modern day
Mary Magdalene (as Maggie). St. James later lent her voice to the
VeggieTales episode "An Easter Carol" as Hope the Music Box Angel. The same year, St. James appeared as a guest vocalist on records by
Dennis Jernigan and
Newsboys. She co-performed the songs "Faithful Friend" and "Blessed Be Your Name", respectively.
If I Had One Chance to Tell You Something, film debut, and aLIVE in Florida (2005–2010) After taking a
hiatus from recording music, St. James returned to the
studio in early 2005 to record new songs. On October 24, 2005, the first single from the album, "
Alive", was released. The song managed to chart at No. 3 on R&R's CHR Chart and No. 13 on
Billboards Hot Christian Songs Chart. Her eighth studio album,
If I Had One Chance to Tell You Something, was released on 22 November 2005. The album debuted to fairly positive reviews. It charted at No. 14 on
Billboard's Top Christian Albums Chart, but failed to make the
Billboard 200. Also in 2005, St. James contributed a song, "Lion", to the album
Music Inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and released a cover of the
Christmas carol "
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing". In early 2006, St. James embarked on her
If I Had One Chance To Tell You Something Tour with fellow Christian group
BarlowGirl. She also recorded "America", the theme song for the
National Day of Prayer, co-written by singer/songwriter Phil Laeger. It was released to iTunes on 2 May 2006. She also recorded a cover of
Chris Tomlin's song "Forever" for the album
WOW Worship: Aqua. In the same year, ForeFront Records put together a compilation album,
The Early Years, that covered ten songs from her earliest releases:
Rebecca St. James,
GOD and
Pray. Aside from music, St. James made her major character film debut in
Unidentified as Colleen in 2006. In 2007, ForeFront Records took live footage and recordings from the
If I Had One Chance... Tour and released
aLIVE in Florida, a CD/DVD collection on 20 March. The album features 14 live songs and an exclusive remix of "You Are Loved". The album charted at No. 43 on
Billboard's Top Christian Albums Chart. Another compilation,
Greatest Hits, was released later that year on 18 October 2008. On 3 September 2008, St. James released another book:
Pure: A 90-Day Devotional for the Mind, Body, & Spirit. In late 2008, St. James announced she would star as the lead role in ''
Sarah's Choice'', a film that was released to DVD on 17 November 2009. It includes "Little One", a song by St. James. The song was released almost two years later on 2 September 2011. The film received good reviews from Christian movie critics. Although on musical hiatus, on 16 April 2009, St. James released "You're Alive" to iTunes as an advance single for her
Resurrection Worship: Songs of Hope album. Then, in June 2009, she released "Wish" to her MySpace page. Aside from these brief musical endeavours, St. James' book
Loved: Stories of Forgiveness was released on 1 September 2009. On 19 August 2009, Christian Cinema reported that St. James had wrapped up filming a new film,
Rising Stars, which was released on 22 October 2010. On 19 October 2010, St. James released her version of "
O Little Town of Bethlehem" on the album
The Essential Christmas Collection.
I Will Praise You, continued film career, and first novels (2011–2016) On 18 November 2010, St. James announced that she had parted ways with
ForeFront Records and would be releasing a new worship album in April 2011 via
Beach Street/
Reunion Records. Her ninth studio album,
I Will Praise You, was released on 5 April 2011. It was preceded by the single "Shine Your Glory Down", which was released to Christian radio on 11 February. The album was met with positive reviews from Christian music critics and was highly successful, debuting at No. 18 on
Billboard's
Hot Christian Albums chart and later peaking at No. 9. It also peaked at No. 153 on the
Billboard 200, her highest charting effort after
Worship God. Her ninth book,
What Is He Thinking?, hit shelves on 26 September 2011. St. James continued her film career in 2011 with
Suing the Devil.
The Frontier Boys followed in 2012. St. James starred in
A Strange Brand of Happy, a romantic comedy film that was released on 13 September 2013. The film revolves around Joyce, a single Christian life coach who falls for an agnostic client. It began filming on 15 August 2011 in
Cincinnati, and was released on 13 September 2013. On 12 March 2013, St. James announced via Facebook that she was publishing
The Merciful Scar, her first Christian novel, co-authored with Nancy Rue. It was released on 10 September 2013. She also narrated the documentary
Mother India: Life Through the Eyes of the Orphan, which was released on 23 April 2013. ForeFront Records released a compilation album on 7 January 2014. The CD was released as
Icon, while the
iTunes Store version was released as
Best of Rebecca St. James. Her second novel, ''Sarah's Choice
, an adaptation of the 2009 film of the same name in which St. James starred, was released on 27 May 2014, while her third novel, One Last Thing'', was released on 10 March 2015. Both books were co-authored by Nancy Rue. St. James' film career continued into 2015 with
Faith of Our Fathers, which featured St. James portraying a car-stealing Australian hitchhiker. She also made a brief cameo in the 2016 film
Priceless, which was written, produced, and edited by her brother
Joel Smallbone, who starred in the film. She also toured with for King & Country and
Casting Crowns on a Christmas tour, and released a live duet with for King & Country of their song "
The Proof of Your Love". St. James later joined the "Greatest Hits Live" tour from November 2018 and continued through May 2019 with
Point of Grace,
Avalon,
Nicole C. Mullen,
Bob Carlisle, and
NewSong. On 10 January 2019, St. James announced that she was writing music for a new album with frequent collaborator Tedd T. and that she had signed with Heritage Music Group, an imprint of
Bethel Music. On 29 April 2020, St. James announced via
Facebook live that her new album would be titled
Dawn, although she later clarified in an
Instagram post that
Dawn would be an
EP rather than a full-length record. The EP's first single, "
Battle Is the Lord's", was released on 12 June 2020 and features guest artist
Brandon Lake.
Dawn was released on 24 July 2020. On 28 August 2020, St. James was featured on the acoustic version of
For King & Country's single "
Together", which also featured
Cory Asbury. On 22 October 2021, St. James released the single "
Kingdom Come" featuring her brothers, For King & Country. The song is the lead single from her tenth studio album,
Kingdom Come, which was released on 25 March 2022. The second single from the album, "Praise", was released on 18 February 2022. She contributed two songs to the film’s soundtrack, both collaborations with For King & Country. On 4 February 2025, St. James released a new book titled
Lasting Ever: Faith, Music, Family, and Being Found by True Love. The book is co-authored with her husband, Cubbie Fink. On 9 May 2025, St. James released a new version of her song "You Make Everything Beautiful" with featured vocals from her daughters Gemma and Imogen. ==Personal life==