About Jon Gibson

Jon Gibson was born in San Francisco in January of 1962 where he grew up much of his childhood as-well-as East Side San Jose during the mid 70's thru the 80's.  Bouncing back and forth between divorced parents, Jon was always in and out of trouble and eventually ended up in juvenile detention centers where he would later be sent to a foster home.  It was there that Jon began to play his firsts notes by ear on an old upright piano.  At 16, Jon was struggling to find a place in this world besides a life in the streets, and after nearly losing his life in a random gang stabbing, Jon joined the U.S. Army where he served in the 464 Infantry Division in Germany.  It was there that Jon began to feel some sense of pride and worth.  He learned to play a guitar that he borrowed from a platoon sergeant and began to write his first songs.

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He returned to the states with dreams of being a "Rock Star" only to end up on his father's couch, Stan Gibson, who had become a Born-Again Christian after a clinical death and recovery from a free-base cocaine overdose.  His father was very supportive of his dream to sing and write songs and it was here that Jon began to hear about the life of Jesus Christ for the first time.  But Jon, still struggling with his past, blew up on his father after a church service and punched the dashboard of his father's old car, describing life in a loud, plural four-letter word. But Jon's father's reaction was different than expected as he answered Jon in the most loving and sincere voice saying "No son, life is not that, you're that, and if you don't get Jesus in your life right here and right now?  You're going to find out what that word really means. Trust me son, I know what I'm talking about."  Jon cried out "Help me dad, I'm lost", his father replied "Not for long son, pray this prayer with me." It was the "Sinner's Prayer" and Jon accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savoir.  

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That same night , Jon was baptized by his father and stepmother, Geraldine Lewis, who had introduced Jon's father to Christ three years earlier. As Jon came up out of the water, he felt a great peace.  As he looked into his father's eye's, he marveled "Who is this strange man?" only to realize that this was the father of whom's attention Jon had been robbed of his whole childhood by drugs and alcohol and now, because of Christ, Jon was free to know and love his father again.  During that same month, Jon got on his knees, lit a candle, and dedicated his gifts of music to God and asked god to write songs through him that would reach into the hearts of men the same way that God had reached into his heart.  Jon began to write his first songs in his father's living room.  During that year, the town homes on both sides of him were robbed four times and one neighbor was shot and killed during a drug-deal-gone-bad with the bullet coming through the wall, about a foot shy of where Jon's father usually sat, and lodged under the bathtub he was baptized in.

In 1982, Jon, armed with an arsenal of original music, signed a three million dollar record deal with Solar Records (a Warner/Electra/Asylum label) alongside the Silvers, Shalamar, Lakeside and the Whispers.  Jon worked with Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and many others.  But Solar ran into distribution troubles 90 days into the release Jon's debut album "Standing On The One".  It wasn't until 2 years later that "Standing On The One"caught the ear of Orange County CCM Radio Station KYMS, which happened to be the biggest CCM station in the country at that time and the rest is history. Jon would go on to help pioneer a new era in Christian and Gospel music by producing eight albums and a daring 22 Top 5 Hits and 9 No.1 Songs.  His 1992 album "Forever Friends" album rendered 4 No.1 singles and was voted CCM's "Album of The Year".  His song "Jesus Loves Ya" still holds the record for the longest playing No.1 single in CCM and Gospel history and the album was published in TIME/LIFE'S "100 Greatest Christian Albums"

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There is really no way to measure how many lives have been impacted by Jon's ministry of music over the years, but for  more than two decades now, thousands of letters and now E-mails continue to pour in, filled with life-changing stories by real people of how Jon's music had affected their lives.  Songs like "God Love's A Broken Heart", "Jesus Loves Ya", "God Will Find You", "Father, Father" and the CCM masterpiece "Friend In You",  a song that seems to possess some timeless, mysterious power that instantaneously breaks the spirit of suicide from upon the lives of whoever hears it.  Some of these same testimonies have been published on myspace.com on a site dedicated to the promotion of the song "Friend In You" at: http://www.myspace.com/friendinyou in hopes that others may be touched by the song's power and new lives be changed forever.

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Jon is now married to his lovely wife Lisa and recently celebrated their 12th anniversary together. They have three sons; Jonathon 12, James 10 and Jesse 3.  Jon is currently a licensed Music Minister and continues to perform and minister across the nation and on television, mentoring and producing new artists. He is a seasoned performer and was recently the house band at Prince's exclusive Golden Globes celebrity after party.  His most recent appearances have included TD Jakes, Paula White and Carman.  He is currently finishing two new projects of his own to be released early and mid 2008 and formulating a forty U.S. city tour with another well-known artist and friend.  Jon is a current style producer, very adept in today's current production methods and technology.  He is a master "session" rhythm player and arranger on piano, guitar, bass, drums, and percussions and is still considered to be one of the most prolific songwriters and finest vocalists in the world today.  He is currently seeking a home for both his current and future projects with a growing catalog of 300 unpublished songs and over 125 published works.

© 2007 jongibson.com