Keith Green Biography

Keith Gordon Green (October 21, 1953 – July 28, 1982) was an American gospel singer, songwriter, and pianist originally from Sheepshead Bay, New York. Green is best known for his strong devotion to Christianity and his unwavering efforts to stir others to the same. Notable songs written by Green and/or his wife, Melody Green, include "I Don't Wanna Fall Away From You", "You Put This Love In My Heart", "Your Love Broke Through", and "Asleep In The Light", as well as the modern hymns "O Lord, You're Beautiful", "There Is A Redeemer", and "Create In Me A Clean Heart".

Green took to music at a young age, beginning with the ukulele at age 3, the guitar at 5, and the piano at 7. His talents were noted by a major newspaper by the time he was only eight years old. Following a performance of Arthur Laurents' The Time of the Cuckoo, a local review by the Los Angeles Times wrote that "roguish-looking, eight-year-old Keith Green gave a winning [character] portrayal" as "the little Italian street urchin, Mauro"; another review commented that he "stole the show". The show was Keith's first appearance in live theater, which was held in Chatsworth, California, in September 1962. According to the LA Times, Keith had already "done a number of television commercials and...made a TV pilot."

At ten years old, Green went on to play "Kurt von Trapp" in a major production of The Sound of Music at the Valley Music Theater in Woodland Hills, California, part of the San Fernando Valley.

In 1975, the Greens began an outreach program in the suburbs of San Fernando Valley, California, by purchasing a home next door to theirs and renting an additional five in the same community to provide housing and care for prostitutes, drug addicts, and homeless people. This outreach ministry was dubbed Last Days Ministries (LDM) 2 years later.

Green was signed to Contemporary Christian music label Sparrow Records in 1976 and worked on the album Firewind (1976) with 2nd Chapter of Acts, Terry Talbot, John Talbot, and Barry McGuire. His first solo project, For Him Who Has Ears to Hear, was released in 1977. No Compromise followed in 1978. In 1979, Green surprised many in the music industry by refusing to charge money for concerts or albums. He negotiated a release from his contract with Sparrow. The Greens then mortgaged their home to privately finance the album So You Wanna Go Back To Egypt (with a guest appearance by Bob Dylan), which was then offered through mail-order and at concerts for a price determined by the purchaser. As of May 1982, Green had shipped out more than 200,000 units of his album – 61,000 for free.

In 1978, Last Days Ministries began publishing the Last Days Newsletter. Originally printed on a few pages of loose paper, it grew in content to eventually become self-described as a "small, colorful magazine", renamed in mid-1985 as Last Days Magazine. The magazine featured articles by Keith and Melody as well as contemporary authors such as David Wilkerson, Leonard Ravenhill, and Winkie Pratney, all of whom lived in the area, as well as reprinted works written by earlier Christian workers such as Charles Finney, John Wesley, and William Booth and his wife Catherine. Due to popularity of the magazine, most of the articles were reprinted as tracts. At the peak of its popularity, the Last Days Magazine was sent out to over 300,000 people worldwide.

In 1979, the ministry relocated from the San Fernando Valley in California to a 40-acre plot of land in Garden Valley, Texas, a crossroads community about 9 miles west of Lindale, Texas. Within a few years, 100 more acres were added for a total of 140 acres. In Texan parlance, a plot of land the size of large acreages is referred to as a "ranch", hence the name Last Days Ministries Ranch. In this article, the word "property" is used.

In 1992, several artists joined together to re-record many of Green's best-known songs for a tribute album called No Compromise: Remembering the Music of Keith Green under the Sparrow Records label. Artists contributing to that record included Charlie Peacock, PFR, Susan Ashton, Margaret Becker, Michael Card, Rich Mullins, and Russ Taff.

In 2001, BEC Records released a second, more modern, tribute record Start Right Here: Remembering the Life of Keith Green. That tribute was produced by Derri Daugherty and included performances by MxPx, Joy Electric and others.

In 2002, upon the twentieth anniversary of Keith's death, Sparrow Records released another tribute album. Your Love Broke Through: The Worship Songs of Keith Green contains re-recordings by Rebecca St. James, Michelle Tumes, Chris Tomlin, Twila Paris, Darlene Zschech, Jason Upton, Martin Smith, Charlie Hall, Joanne Hogg, Matt Redman, Paul Oakley, and Sarah Sadler. This album includes "There Is One" performed by Michael W. Smith, which was an unfinished work completed by Michael W. Smith and Martin Smith.

Since the time of his death, the only known unreleased Christian song recorded by Keith was "Born Again". This song was finally released 17 years later in 1999 on the First Love compilation video and CD, which features a two-song tribute to Keith by other artists. Keith was working on other songs at the time of his death. Melody has not made them available to the public. She has released excerpts of his writings as books: Cry In The Wilderness (Sparrow, 1993), If You Love the Lord (Harvest House, 2000), and Make My Life a Prayer (Harvest House, 2001).

(All released posthumously)