Greg Nelson is a Gospel Music Hall of Fame producer, songwriter, composer, arranger, conductor, author, and poet whose career has spanned more than five decades. Widely respected for his contributions to Christian music, he has written more than 400 songs, produced award-winning recordings, composed major choral works, and influenced generations of artists, worship leaders, and songwriters around the world.
Early Life and North Dakota Roots
Born and raised in Bismarck, North Dakota, Nelson graduated from Bismarck High School and the University of Mary. He began his teaching career in the Bismarck Public School System, teaching elementary music before becoming Director of the Bismarck High School Orchestra. During those years he co-founded Tri Art Productions with Bill Townsend, conducted the fledgling community orchestra that later became the Bismarck Mandan Symphony Orchestra, directed church choirs, served as Musical Director and Conductor for the Miss North Dakota Pageant, conducted numerous community theater productions, served as a full-time church youth director, and served in the United States Army Reserve.
Career Highlights
Nelson founded Spirit Records in Bismarck, North Dakota, before relocating to Los Angeles, where he became Director of Publishing for Sparrow Records. In 1980, he moved to Nashville and established himself as one of Christian music’s most respected producers, composers, songwriters, and publishers. Over the course of his career, he has produced recordings for many of Christian music’s most recognized artists, including Sandi Patty, Steve Green, Larnelle Harris, CeCe Winans, Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Michael Crawford. His work has received seven Grammy Awards from thirteen Grammy nominations, more than twenty Gospel Music Association Dove Awards from thirty nominations, multiple Gold and Platinum record certifications, BMI Awards, Nashville Songwriters Association honors, and the BMI Special Contribution Award. He was the third recipient of the Gospel Music Association Impact Award in recognition of his influence on gospel music and was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2018.
Beyond the Studio
Nelson’s oratorio Saviour, co-written with Bob Farrell, has reached audiences around the world. It has been performed three times at Carnegie Hall, presented at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and toured throughout England and Russia following its premiere in 1994. He also composed the oratorio The Passion along with numerous orchestral and choral works. As Musical Supervisor for LifeWay Worship, Nelson directed the recording of more than 1,000 hymns and worship songs over a ten-month period for the Baptist Hymnal project, widely regarded as the largest single recording project in Nashville’s history. His songs have been translated into numerous languages and continue to be sung by choirs and congregations throughout the world, appearing in denominational hymnals and worship collections across many traditions.
Author, Educator, and Mentor
In addition to his work in music, Nelson is an accomplished author and poet. His books include Runaway Horse, The Human Wave, The Quiet Pines, and Poems for Living. His recent writing explores faith, creativity, relationships, grief, aging, and the beauty of the natural world, reflecting the same thoughtful storytelling that has characterized his songwriting career. A dedicated educator and mentor, Nelson has taught songwriting and composition throughout the United States as well as in Russia, India, Taiwan, and China. He has recorded with Russian musicians in Moscow on a translated presentation of Saviour and has invested in the next generation of songwriters through teaching, speaking, and mentoring around the world.
Honors and Legacy
He has served two terms as a Governor of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, is a member of Leadership Music Nashville, and has received Distinguished Alumni Awards from both Bismarck High School and the University of Mary, the Harold Schafer Leadership Award, and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Greenville College, now Greenville University. Although his work has taken him around the world, Nelson continues to credit North Dakota as the place where his creative life began. The values of faith, humility, hard work, and excellence that shaped his early years remain the foundation of his music and writing. Greg and his wife, Pam, live in Franklin, Tennessee. He will be formally inducted into the North Dakota Music Hall of Fame on September 20, 2026.