Margaret Becker (born July 17, 1959) is an American Christian rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She has had twenty-one No. 1 Christian radio hits, won four Dove Awards and was nominated for four Grammy Awards.
Becker was born in Bay Shore, New York and raised in East Islip, New York and began playing in coffeehouses while teaching music and taking opera lessons. Having graduated from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia with a degree in communication, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1985, and signed to Sparrow Records as a songwriter. Becker soon toured with Rick Cua as a backup singer and sang a duet with Steve Camp on his 1986 album One on One on the title song. In 1987, Becker landed a contract with Sparrow Records as a recording artist and released her debut album Never for Nothing. Becker's first rock single "Fight for God" was a hit and went to number one while the title song was a Top 5 Christian CHR and Christian AC hit. Her second album The Reckoning yielded more hits with "Light in the Darkness" (Rock) and "Find Me" (AC/CHR).
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Becker occasionally encountered controversy in the world of Contemporary Christian music because she is a Roman Catholic; some Christian stores refused to carry her album, and her concert appearances were sometimes picketed. Although she was raised in Catholicism, Becker currently attends a non-denominational church in Nashville.
In 1989, Becker started collaborating with musician/singer/songwriter Charlie Peacock to produce some critically acclaimed albums starting with Immigrant's Daughter. Simple House was released in 1991 and won two Dove Awards the following year for Rock Album of the Year and the title song for Rock Recorded Song of the Year. After two more albums and a Spanish language album, in 1995, Becker took a sabbatical from the music industry; during this time she wrote a book entitled With New Eyes and wrote editorials for Campus Life magazine. She returned to Christian music in 1998 with Falling Forward. What Kind of Love was released a year later and would be her final album on Sparrow Records.
Becker has continued touring and releasing both solo albums and collaborations and has appeared on various artists compilation albums. Becker gives teaching seminars across the United States. She also produces records for other singers, and in 2006 she wrote a series of columns for CCM Magazine. Becker has also been active in supporting charities such as Habitat for Humanity, Compassion International and World Vision.
More information on Margaret Becker at Wikipedia:
Discography
Windows of the Heart (EP) (1984)
Air (2007)
Collaborative works
Along the Road (with Susan Ashton and Christine Denté) (1994)
Heaven & Earth: A Tapestry of Worship (with Michelle Tumes, Rebecca St. James, Nichole Nordeman & Jennifer Knapp) (1999)
New Irish Hymns (with Máire Brennan & Joanne Hogg) (2001)
New Irish Hymns 2: Father, Son and Holy Spirit (with Joanne Hogg & Kristyn Lennox) (2003)
Faithfully Yours (with David M. Edwards) (2004)
New Irish Hymns 3: Incarnation (with Joanne Hogg & Kristyn Getty) (2004)
New Irish Hymns 4: Hymns for the Life of the Church (with Joanne Hogg &
Kristyn Getty) (2005)
Hymns of Christmas (with Jennifer Knapp) (2012)