Newsboys' original core members, bassist Sean Taylor, vocalist John James, and drummer Peter Furler, formed the band in Mooloolaba, Queensland in 1985 along with Furler's guitarist schoolmate, George Perdikis. The band's original name was The News, but once in the U.S. they changed it to The Newsboys to avoid conflict with the U.S.-based band Huey Lewis and the News. The band came to the United States in late 1987 after getting signed with Refuge Communications, and released the album Read All About It in 1988 in the United States. It was an instant success and featured hit singles such as 'Everybody Knows' and 'Something's Missing'. Their second album, 'Hell Is for Wimps', released in 1991, was also well-received and featured the singles 'Shine' and 'Real Good Thing'.

In 1998, the band released the album 'Step Up to the Microphone', which featured the breakthrough single 'God's Not Dead' (later covered by The Afters). The song was a huge success and helped propel the band to international fame. The band continued to release successful albums over the years with 2002's 'Thrive', 2004's 'Adoration: The Worship Album', 2009's 'In the Hands of God' and 2011's 'God's Not Dead'. Their most recent album is 2016's 'Love Riot'. Newsboys have won several awards over the years including multiple GMA Dove Awards, CCM Magazine Readers' Choice Awards and ASCAP Awards. They have also been nominated for Grammy Awards three times.