"Holy Forever" is a song by American contemporary Christian musician Chris Tomlin. It impacted Christian radio in the United States on March 10, 2023, as the fourth single from Tomlin's fourteenth studio album, Always (2022). Tomlin co-wrote the song with Brian Johnson, Jason Ingram, Jenn Johnson, and Phil Wickham. Jonathan Smith handled the production of the single.
"Holy Forever" peaked at No. 1 on the US Hot Christian Songs chart published by Billboard. It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song at the 2023 Grammy Awards.
In 2023, Jenn Johnson led the song on Bethel Music's live album Come Up Here. Background On July 15, 2022, Chris Tomlin announced that he would be releasing a new worship project titled Always on September 9, releasing "Holy Forever" as the first promotional single from the album. "Holy Forever" followed the previously released singles "I See You", "Always", and "Yahweh (No One)". Speaking with Christian magazine Worship Leader, Tomlin described the song as "the anchor" of Always.
Composition "Holy Forever" is composed in the key of D♭ with a tempo of 72 beats per minute, and a musical time signature of .
Reception Critical response Jonathan Andre in his 365 Days of Inspiring Media review spotlighted the track as one of three songs to listen to on Always, opining that "'Holy Forever' is my favourite song from Chris Tomlin's Always, as this track becomes my favourite Chris Tomlin ballad, ever since 'Jesus' way back in 2016." Timothy Yap of JubileeCast gave a positive review of the album, saying, "Solely focused on God in his glorious splendor surrounded with a soul-stirring chorus, this reminds us of the type of worship mentioned in Revelation 4 and 5." Gerod Bass of Worship Musician magazine wrote a positive review of the song, saying it "touches on the ever faithful theme with its soaring chorus notes and reverent and honest worship."
Accolades + Awards Year Organization Award Result Ref 2023 Grammy Awards Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song
Commercial performance "Holy Forever" debuted at No. 43 on the US Hot Christian Songs chart dated July 30, 2022 as a promotional single. After steadily climbing the charts through streaming and digital sales alone, it was officially released to radio in March 2023. The song would reach the Top 10 after 43 weeks. It ascended to the No. 1 position on the chart dated October 7, 2023, completing a record-breaking 59-week climb to the summit, the longest ascent in the chart's history. It spent four weeks at No. 1 and remained on the Hot Christian Songs chart for a total of 80 weeks, making it Tomlin's longest-charting song. In May 2024, it was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Music videos The official lyric video of "Holy Forever" was published via Chris Tomlin's YouTube channel on July 14, 2022. A live performance of the song, featuring Brian and Jenn Johnson, was released on his channel on April 28, 2023, which was recorded during his seventh Good Friday Nashville concert in Bridgestone Arena.
Cover versions On October 6, 2023, a cover of "Holy Forever" by American singer CeCe Winans was released on YouTube.
On November 28, 2025, Jason Dunn of Hawk Nelson released a cover of the song.
In 2026, a metal version of the song by Seventh Day Slumber, was released on the album Thy Kingdom Come.
Track listing
Personnel Adapted from AllMusic.
Jacob Arnold — drums, percussion Adam Ayan — mastering engineer Jonsal Barrientes — choir/chorus Dallan Beck — editing Jesse Brock — mixing assistant Chris Brown — background vocals, choir/chorus Shantay Brown — choir/chorus Daniel Carson — acoustic guitar, choir/chorus, electric guitar Tamera Chipp — choir/chorus Chad Chrisman — A&R Courtlan Clement — electric guitar Nickie Conley — background vocals Elevation Worship — primary artist Enaka Enyong — choir/chorus Jason Eskridge — background vocals Bryan Fowler — acoustic guitar, background vocals, bass, electric guitar, keyboards, producer, programmer, synthesizer programming Sam Gibson — mixing Ben Glover — acoustic guitar, background vocals, choir/chorus, electric guitar, engineer, keyboards, producer, programming Lindsay Glover — choir/chorus Tarik Henry — choir/chorus Mark Hill — bass Tiffany Hudson — choir/chorus Tommy Iceland — choir/chorus Jenn Johnson — background vocals Taylor Johnson — acoustic guitar, electric guitar Graham King — engineer Benji Kurokose — choir/chorus Brandon Lake — primary artist, vocals Paul Mabury — drums Jerry McPherson — electric guitar Matthew Melton — bass Buckley Miller — recording Sean Moffitt — mixing Gordon Mote — piano Brad O'Donnell — A&R Colton Price — editing, programming David Ramirez — programming Sophie Shear — choir/chorus Jonathan Smith — background vocals, Hammond B3, organ, piano, producer, programming Jeff Sojka — background vocals, choir/chorus, drums, electric guitar, engineer, keyboards, producer, programming Isaiah Templeton — choir/chorus Chris Tomlin — choir/chorus, primary artist, vocals Bria Valderama — choir/chorus Doug Weier — mixing Jordan Welch — choir/chorus
Charts
Weekly charts + Weekly chart performance for "Holy Forever" Chart (2022–2025) Peak positionUS Christian AC (Billboard) 1
Year-end charts + Year-end chart performance for "Holy Forever" Chart (2023) Position US Christian Songs (Billboard) 4 US Christian Airplay (Billboard) 9 US Christian AC (Billboard) 5 Chart (2024) Position US Christian Songs (Billboard) 15 Chart (2025) Position US Christian Digital Song Sales (Billboard) 16 US Christian Streaming Songs (Billboard) 11
Certifications
Release history + Release dates and formats for "Holy Forever" Region Date Format Label Various July 15, 2022 United States March 10, 2023 Christian radio
References
External links on PraiseCharts