Benny Ray Hester (born May 3, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and recording artist. He is best known for his songs "When God Ran" and "Nobody Knows Me Like You", and for producing the teen sketch comedy and dance television series Roundhouse. Hester received a television Cable Ace Award for the song "I Can Dream" and a collection of nominations for writing and producing an original song for each weekly episode of Roundhouse during its four-year run.
Hester's song "When God Ran" is one of the longest-running number one songs in Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) history; it was number one for 13 weeks, and the third most successful song in the history of Word Records.
The title track from Hester's third album, "Nobody Knows Me Like You", reached number one on Christian Music Charts and became the first CCM song to break the Billboard Top 50 Adult Contemporary Chart, debuting at number 44 on November 7, 1981.
Hester's first CCM singles, "Jesus Came Into My Life" and "Be A Receiver", were breakthrough recordings for radio, blurring the lines between pop, rock and inspirational music, and becoming the first contemporary pop rock songs to be universally accepted and widely played across all Christian Radio formats. His 1978 debut album Benny Hester, re-released in 1982 as Be A Receiver, influenced the burgeoning CCM scene as the musical landscape shifted with the end of the Jesus Music era and the birth of the industry known as "Contemporary Christian Music".
Benny Hester was born in Waco, Texas, the son of Benjamin F. Hester and Evelyn Hester; he has one sister and one brother. He began studying classical music at age four and continued his studies through high school. While attending Richfield High School, Hester was a founding members of the Texas pop rock band The Morticians. He sang with The Texas Boys Choir, became the youngest member of the Texas swing band Sam Weaver and The Texas Playboys, and appeared on the band's weekly television show playing alongside guests like Johnny Gimble and Ernest Tubb.
Hester was hired to play in the stage band and orchestra for the musical Texas, and stayed with the show for two years. At the same time, with partner Steve Hilton, he founded the duo Hester & Hilton. While playing El Paso, Hester was asked to write two songs for a recording session by the group The Sojourners. In 1970, the songs, "Life Developing Slide" and "Our Way To Go", were produced by Norman Petty and recorded at his recording studio in Clovis, New Mexico.
in 1969, Hester moved to Las Vegas where, on a walk-through of Bill Porter's United Recording Studio, he met head recording engineer Brent Maher. Maher invited Hester to play a song and then asked for another. They became immediate friends and Maher let him sit in on the recording sessions of Ike and Tina TurnerâÂÂs âÂÂProud Mary" and The 5th Dimension's Age of Aquarius.
Hester taught music at a private music school, recorded Hester & Hilton demos with Maher at United Recording and, with Maher, formed a jingle agency, MusAd. They created, for example, the song for Hickory Farms Of Ohio, and the slogan for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Maher produced Hester's first two albums, Benny..., and his first CCM album for Billy Ray Hearn's Sparrow Records, Benny Hester. Hester had become a Christian while attending an evangelical rally; his spiritual awakening resulted in the song "We All Know He's Coming", recorded with Elvis PresleyâÂÂs TCB Band. It was the TCB band which played on Benny..., however the finished masters and packaged albums were lost in the fire that destroyed United Recording. Hester's first album was never released but a remastered version, made from Hester's promotional copy of the original, was released on February 19, 2016. A track from the album, "No the End is Not Near" was featured in the fifth season of the HBO show Girls.
Hester went on to release songs and albums, and perform thousands of concerts. His recording of his song âÂÂWhen God Ranâ is the longest running number one song in Contemporary Christian Music history, spending 13 weeks at number one on Christian Radio and topping both the AC and CHR Charts. When another single from the same album, "Secret Thoughts", made it to number one on the Rock Charts, Hester had three simultaneous chart toppers, a feat which had never been achieved in Christian music. âÂÂWhen God Ranâ was the number one most played Christian Adult Contemporary radio hit of 1986, and number three for the decade. âÂÂWhen God Ranâ continues to be recorded by artists in many genres; a version recorded by The Kingsmen took the number one spot on the Southern Gospel Charts in February 2009 and was nominated as Gospel Music Song Of The Year.
From 1992 to 1996 Hester was Co-Executive Producer, Music Producer/Musical Director and Songwriter for the award-winning Nickelodeon/MTV series Roundhouse. He was nominated for seven songwriting and music producer awards, winning a CableACE Award for âÂÂI Can Dreamâ and, for âÂÂCanâÂÂt Let GoâÂÂ, a Hollywood Foreign Press Association Youth In Film Award in the Best Original Song for Television category. He also received three Cable Ace nominations for best Variety Special or Series as Co-Executive Producer of the show. The 12-member cast of Roundhouse received the award for Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Youth Series or Variety Show from the Hollywood Foreign Press Youth In Film Awards.
Hester and record producer Howard Benson prepared the first Roundhouse cast album for release on Irving Azoff's Giant Records (Warner Music Group). The album contained six Cable Ace-nominated tunes, including "I Can Dream". Nickelodeon blocked the album, and withheld approval of the use of its name in association with the 30-city Roundhouse concert tour. The Disney Channel, under the leadership of former Nickelodeon employees, jumped ahead of Nickelodeon in music-driven television for the tween/teen market, eventually surpassing them in viewer ratings.
Following a 2001 pitch to the Disney Channel, by Roundhouse producers, of the show Rock and Roland, in which a junior high boy was a "normal kid by day, rock star by nightâÂÂ, and after the producers provided additional scenes and a plan for marketing the music from the show through Disney's Hollywood Records, the Disney ChannelâÂÂs Rich Ross and Adam Bonnett publicly took credit for the success of DisneyâÂÂs lucrative franchise Hannah Montana. A 2007 complaint filed against Disney claimed that Rock and Roland was misappropriated by Disney and produced under the name Hannah Montana. In 2008, Disney settled the legal claim a month before the trial was to begin.
Hester is married to producer Rita Hester who, with her ex-husband Buddy Sheffield, created Roundhouse.