For King & Country, stylised as for KING & COUNTRY and formerly known as Joel & Luke as well as Austoville, is a Christian pop duo composed of Australian brothers Joel (born 5 June 1984) and Luke Smallbone (born 22 October 1986).

[1] The brothers were born in Australia and emigrated to the United States as children, settling in the Nashville area.

The band has collaborated with other artists on their work, including Dolly Parton, Timbaland, Tori Kelly, Lecrae, CeCe Winans and Needtobreathe.

The brothers have created two feature films, Priceless and Unsung Hero, which share titles and themes with two of their singles.

The brothers supplied background vocals and other supporting roles for their sister and family members, Rebecca St. James, and various bands in concerts across America.

Three of those songs ("Missing", "Sane", and "Love's to Blame") appeared on Crave with slightly different melodies and lyrics.

[6] They described "Busted Heart" as "really a universal cry of humanity for something greater than ourselves...We think we've got it all sorted out, and life will deal you those blows.

[10] Their debut hit song, "Busted Heart (Hold On to Me)" was featured on 28 October 2012 episode of VH1's Rehab with Dr.

[12][13] In July 2012, they announced The Proof of Your Love Tour with Jason Castro and Dara Maclean to visit 30 cities from September through November 2012.

[15] During the summer of 2013, the band was forced to take time off when the 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Luke dropped to 125 pounds (57 kg) due to an attack of ulcerative colitis.

[16] In June 2013, Joel Smallbone appeared in a non-singing role as King Xerxes in the film, The Book of Esther from Pure Flix Entertainment.

[20] The band performed their songs "Run Wild" and "Fix My Eyes" on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

[24] The duo released a deluxe anniversary edition of the album on 23 October 2015, including three new songs: "Priceless", "Ceasefire" and "Wholehearted", as well as a reworked version of "It's Not Over Yet", called "The Encore".

[26] After releasing their second album, the brothers focused much of their time on the feature film Priceless, which stars Joel in a story about human trafficking.

[34] The song had crossover success, reaching the Billboard Hot 100 and peaking at #17 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

In 2020, after cancelling its scheduled tour due to the coronavirus pandemic, the band performed drive-in style outdoor concerts where attendees listened and watched from their cars.

The band also released a deluxe edition featuring remixes and collaborations with Parton, Timbaland, Echosmith, Tori Kelly, Lecrae, and Kirk Franklin.

The song peaked at 1 on the Christian Airplay chart, which became their eighth straight single to reach the mark.

On 10 August, the band announced the deluxe version of the album alongside the release of the music video for "What Are We Waiting For?".

", collaborations with Hillary Scott and Jordin Sparks on "For God Is with Us" and "Love Me Like I Am", respectively, and an unreleased track, titled "Better Man".

SUSIE Magazine stated, "It takes only one listen to the brothers' rich, upbeat, alternative sounds and thoughtful lyrics to understand their sudden popularity.

"[citation needed] In a 2012 interview, they described their philosophy: "The power of music can impact our mood, emotions, our day.

But when you merge the strength of music with the heart, hope and passion of the Gospel... it has the ultimate power not only to change someone's day, but to impact them for eternity.

This is why we write music and sing songs – we hope that people will be moved, encouraged and stirred to live a life for Someone greater than themselves.

[49][1][51] Both were born in Sydney, to David and Helen Smallbone, and moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1991, after their father's job relocation.

[4] Their father was a music promoter, and Joel recalls, "going to these rock concerts, sitting on my father's shoulders, plugging my ears...Honestly, in a lot of ways, I feel like music chose me and as I grew older, I made a clear decision to fully lean into it.

"[52] The Smallbones are the younger brothers of Christian recording artist and speaker Rebecca St. James, and the brothers-in-law of Jacob Fink, former bassist for the band Foster the People.

[58] From 2013 to 2015, Luke battled a life-threatening case of ulcerative colitis, pushing him near death and causing him to miss 40 of the band's live shows.

[60] He and his wife also nearly lost their two-month-old son in 2018; he has since made a full recovery after skull reconstruction surgery.

Joel Smallbone was the lead actor in a 2016 drama about human trafficking entitled Priceless, which was released in theatres in October 2016.