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Billions Award for Grammy winner Paul Mabury on 'You Say'

Media Published Wednesday 21 February 2024
L-R: Mark Moffatt (APRA AMCOS), Paul Mabury, Isabella Kearney-Nurse (APRA AMCOS) (photo by Nina Mussolino)

Nashville-via-Perth songwriter, producer, drummer and worship music director Paul Mabury co-wrote and co-produced Lauren Daigle's 'You Say.

The crossover Christain Contemporary hit was the first song to achieve than 100 consecutive weeks on a Billboard 'Hot' genre chart.

Mabury was presented the award at a special event in Nashville.


Nashville-based Australian songwriter, producer, drummer and two-time Grammy winner Paul Mabury was honoured for the Lauren Daigle hit ‘You Say’, with a place on APRA AMCOS’ The 1,000,000,000 List, for songs surpassing one billion streams.

The ‘Billions Award’ is given to APRA AMCOS songwriter members and their publishers in recognition of a song’s streaming success. The award for ‘You Say’ was presented to Mabury at a special event in Nashville hosted by the music rights organisation’s local representatives Mark Moffatt and Isabella Kearney-Nurse.

Mabury is published by Essential Music Publishing, and along with Daigle, he co-wrote the chart-topper with Jason Ingram, Michael Donehey and Bebo Norman. Mabury and Ingram are also the song’s producers.

The triumphant and emotive ‘You Say’ was released as the lead single from Daigle’s 2018 LP Look Up Child. With Daigle’s already well-established profile in Contemporary Christian music, the song quickly made its way onto US Christian radio, raced up numerous Billboard charts and connected on streaming platforms.

It easily took the top spot on the Billboard Hot Christian Singles chart and there it would stay and dominate for more than 130 weeks – making it the first time that one song has achieved 100 weeks at No. 1 on any Billboard ‘Hot’ genre chart.

The song crossed over to mainstream radio and made its way to a peak of #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and hit the top 40 charts in Belgium, Netherlands, Scotland and New Zealand. Accreditations include six-times platinum in the US, double platinum in Canada, platinum in France and the Netherlands and Silver in the UK.

At the 2019 Grammys, Mabury took home two awards with his ‘You Say’ collaborators: Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song and Best Contemporary Christian Music Album for Look Up Child.

In the Perth native's two decades in Nashville, he has become an in-demand drummer, producer and worship music director.

When Paul accepted his Billions trophy, he said, “Songwriting is something, ironically, that I fell in love with in the last year."

On making a move to Nashville in the early 2000s, Paul said, “You make a decision to follow your dreams, and that caused me to leave the most isolated city in the world…and since that day, everything good has come from that moment. That’s where I write from, that’s where the songs come from.”

Holly Zabka at Provident Entertainment, on behalf of Essential Music Publishing said:

“What an incredible accomplishment, we are thrilled for Paul and to see this song continue to impact a global audience. It’s been a privilege to work alongside Paul all these years and he couldn’t be more deserving of this recognition.”

Dean Ormston, Chief Executive, APRA AMCOS, said:

“Congratulations to Paul, an incredible talent and one of our longtime Nashville-based members. He is already a Grammy winner for ‘You Say', and to now surpass over one billion streams on this crossover hit is a remarkable achievement and one that really speaks to the connection of a great song.

“Paul has helped establish an Australasian presence in the very competitive, very musical city and we are beyond proud to support him throughout his career and across all the songs he helps to create and share with the world.”

The 1,000,000,000 List takes into account streaming numbers from major services Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube. It is the first award of its kind to recognise a songwriter’s achievement.

'You Say' - Lauren Daigle