"What a Beautiful Name" is the most commercially successful explicitly Christological worship song of the twenty-first century - a piece that won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song in 2017 while simultaneously functioning as a sustained meditation on the divine identity of Jesus drawn from Philippians 2 and Revelation 5. Written by Ben Fielding and Brooke Ligertwood of Hillsong Church in Sydney, it represents the worship music tradition of the Global South at its theological and artistic peak.
The Composition
Brooke Ligertwood (born Brooke Fraser, 1983) wrote the text over a period of several years, describing it as emerging from her own theological study of who Jesus is. Ben Fielding composed the music. The song was first recorded for Hillsong Worship's album Let There Be Light (2016) and performed live at the Hillsong Conference. Its structure moves through three phases: contemplation of the incarnation ("You were the Word at the beginning"), the crucifixion and resurrection ("Death could not hold you, the veil tore before you"), and the exaltation ("You have no rival, you have no equal"). The bridge - a declaration that nothing could separate the believer from the love of God in Christ - draws on Romans 8:38-39.
Biblical Text
Philippians 2:9-10 (KJV) is the hymn's doctrinal spine: "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth." The repeated declaration "What a beautiful name it is, the name of Jesus" is an act of worship grounded in this Pauline proclamation of Christ's exaltation. Revelation 5:12 (KJV) - "Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing" - provides the heavenly worship context that the song enacts on earth. Matthew 27:51 (KJV) - "And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom" - underlies the bridge's declaration that "the veil tore before you."
The Creator
Brooke Ligertwood is a New Zealand-born, Australian-raised musician who grew up in evangelical Christianity and joined Hillsong Church in Sydney in her early twenties. Her earlier work as Brooke Fraser produced several successful albums in the Australian Christian music market, and her song "Hosanna" (2006) became a widely sung worship piece. She married Scott Ligertwood, a guitarist with Hillsong United, and has increasingly focused her songwriting on explicitly theological content. Her background in careful text-reading is evident in "What a Beautiful Name," which demonstrates a knowledge of biblical Christology unusual in the contemporary worship context.
Ben Fielding is an Australian musician and songwriter who has served as a worship leader and song-writer for Hillsong Worship for many years, with other songs including "Cornerstone" (co-written with Reuben Morgan).
Musical Analysis
The song is built on a structure common to contemporary worship: verses that build narrative and theological content, a chorus that repeats a simple but theologically loaded declaration, and a bridge that creates emotional and dynamic climax. The melody is singable across a wide range of vocal types, and the harmonic language - using suspended chords and resolutions that create a sense of longing fulfilled - suits the text's movement from contemplation to wonder. The Grammy committee recognized both the quality of the songwriting and its commercial success: the song was the most-performed Christian song across all radio formats in 2017.
Theological Content
The song's theology is high Christology from first to last. "You were the Word at the beginning" asserts the pre-existence and divine identity of Christ (John 1:1). "One with God the Father, light of all creation" affirms the Nicene claim of co-eternal divinity. "Son of God and man forever" holds together the two-natures doctrine of Chalcedon (451 AD). The crucifixion stanza affirms the resurrection and the tearing of the temple veil as the sign that the barrier between God and humanity has been removed. The exaltation stanza - "You have no rival, you have no equal, now and forever, God you reign" - is essentially the Philippians 2 hymn recast in contemporary English. The song functions as a compressed Christological confession that could serve as a catechism of who Jesus is.
Performance History
The song won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song and Best Contemporary Christian Music Album in 2017 - the first time a Hillsong Worship project had won these awards. It has been performed at Hillsong Church services in Sydney, New York, London, and dozens of other cities where Hillsong has campuses. It has been recorded and translated into dozens of languages and adopted by churches across denominations worldwide. Its success on secular radio as well as Christian radio marked a crossover reach unusual for explicitly Christological content.
Cultural Impact and Legacy
The song represents the maturation of the Hillsong sound - moving beyond the earlier aesthetic of praise songs that were biblically thin toward a new generation of Hillsong content that engages seriously with Christology, Trinitarian theology, and the creeds. Its Grammy recognition by the mainstream music industry confirmed that theological depth and commercial success are not mutually exclusive in contemporary Christian music. Ligertwood's careful theological work in the text has been noted by theologians who might not typically engage with worship music as a form of theological reflection. The song has become a standard in evangelical and charismatic worship and shows signs of the longevity that the great hymns achieve.