History (Matthew West album)

Matthew West began recording in studio for History in early 2005.[5] He co-produced the album along with Kenny Greenberg and Jason Houser.[6] West wrote six of the album's tracks himself, and co-wrote the other five songs with the album's producers and others.[4]

West's theme for the album and its title track "History" was inspired by seeing an R&R music news headline that stated "Matthew West Makes History", in reference to his first album, Happy.[7] He noted, "It's not every day you read a headline like that with your name in it that calls you a history maker. I remember thinking this was one of those moments in my career that I needed to soak up."[7]

The album was released through Universal South Records in the United States on June 21, 2005.[4] On June 20, one day before the album, the first single "Next Thing You Know" was released to radios.[8]

Starting on September 14, 2005, West began his own 30-city headliner History 101 tour, which was named after the album. History 101 was the first tour that he had headlined, also featuring Christian artists Shawn McDonald and Paul Wright.[9]

The next singles released off of the album were "Only Grace" and later the title track "History".[10][11]

History charted at No. 17 on Billboard's Top Christian Albums and reached No. 26 on the Top Heatseekers chart.[12] The album's first single "Next Thing You Know (Thirteen)" reached No. 3 on Billboard's Hot Christian Songs chart[13] and also No. 3 on the Hot Christian AC chart.[14] The second and third singles, "History" and "Only Grace", reached No. 13 and No. 6 on the Hot Christian Songs chart, respectively.[15]