Phil Joel
Phil Joel
Background information
Birth name	Philip Joel
Born	(1973-01-05) January 5, 1973 (age 39)
Origin	Auckland, New Zealand
Genres	Christian pop
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass
Years active	1990s–present
Labels	deliberatePeople
Associated acts	Newsboys, Drinkwater
Website	www.philjoel.com, www.deliberatepeople.com/dp/

Philip Joel Urry (born January 5, 1973) is a musician known as a solo artist in addition to being the former bassist for the Christian rock group Newsboys. He uses the name Phil Joel professionally due to pronunciation issues with his surname.

Phil Joel was born in Auckland, New Zealand. He was lead singer and guitarist in the popular New Zealand band Drinkwater.

Though he had little experience with the instrument, the Newsboys offered him a position as bassist in August 1994. He said at the time, "I already know how to play a guitar with six strings, four should be a cinch." He also sang background and some lead vocals for the band.

In June 2000, Phil Joel released his first solo album, Watching Over You, on Inpop Records. This release is largely autobiographical,^[1] and of experiences with missions work in Third world countries.^[2] He supported this album with the Strangely Normal Tour accompanied by LaRue, Luna Halo, Earthsuit, V*enna & Katy Hudson (now known as Katy Perry). His second solo album, Bring It On, was released in November 2002 also on Inpop. His third album, The deliberatePeople. was released on November 18, 2005 in conjunction with Phil Joel and Heather Joel's newly founded Christian ministry, deliberatePeople. The album was praised for its stripped down rock,^[3] reminiscent of the Jesus Music era of Christian Music.^[4]