Matthew West

Matthew West was born on April 25, 1977 in Downers Grove, Illinois. West was a fan of baseball from an early age and had initially planned to enter a career in the sport. In 1997, however, he decided to pursue music instead. West released his first independent album, September Sun, that same year.

In 2002, a week before he was due to sign a contract with Universal South Records, West suffered a serious injury which would put his music career in jeopardy. Having accidentally locked himself in his house, West attempted to escape through a window. West's arm, however, went straight through the glass pane. West told The Fish: "Blood starting spewing out of my left arm everywhere and I ran down my street screaming for help. After seeing so much blood, I went into shock and just blacked out in the middle of the street. The next thing I can remember is some construction workers praying over me in Spanish and then being taken to the hospital." West revealed the severity of his injury: "When I got to the hospital, they told me I was very close to severing an artery and that the chances of me regaining full use of my left arm might be severely limited. Since I'm left-handed and play guitar with my left hand, that wouldn't have been good, especially a week before signing a record deal." Faith in God helped West through this tumultuous time: "I'm not going to candy coat it and say, 'Life is hard but God is good.' No, I was at the depths and my weakest moment. It took months of recovery. I had to be driven to physical therapy. I couldn't tie my shoes or even write my name, let alone write a song or play guitar. I began to have nothing else but to lean on my Savior."

Having recovered from his injury, West signed with Universal South Records and released his major-label debut, Happy, on December 26, 2003. The album included the hit single, "More," which stayed at #1 on Christian radio for nine consecutive weeks in 2004.