Arnold Børud is a Norwegian singer, musician and record producer.

He grew up in Askim

Askim

is a town and a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Askim. Askim was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 ....

, and has been a devout Christian

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 since the age of 18, when a friend invited him to a Christian camp. Only two years later, he had learned the guitar and piano, and released his first record as a part of the duo Arild og Arnold. In 1973 he started two gospel choirs, Tvers and Mini-Tvers. With these choirs Børud became a pioneer in introducing gospel music to Norwegian Pietist

Pietism

Pietism was a movement within Lutheranism, lasting from the late 17th century to the mid-18th century and later. It proved to be very influential throughout Protestantism and Anabaptism, inspiring not only Anglican priest John Wesley to begin the Methodist movement, but also Alexander Mack to...

 segments. He has thus been called "Mr. Gospel" in Norway.

He had already, in 1972, formed the gospel group Frisk Luft

Frisk Luft

Frisk Luft is a Norwegian gospel group.It was founded in 1972 as Frisk Luft . It consisted of Rune Larsen, Ivar Skippervold, Arnold Børud and Kjell Fjalsett, and since all are accomplished musicians outside of the group as well, Frisk Luft had been called the first Christian supergroup in...

together with Rune Larsen

Rune Larsen

Rune Larsen is a Norwegian journalist, singer, musician, record producer and television presenter.He was born in Bergen. He made his stage debut in 1957, and his television debut in 1964. By that time he had already played with two bands, The White Shirts and The Black Diamonds, and rejected a...

, Ivar Skippervold

Ivar Skippervold

Ivar Skippervold is a Norwegian singer and musician.He hails from Oslo, but moved to Lillesand as an adult. He took up music at an early age, and his first self-made music was protest songs. He became Christian out of a "religious yearning", and his protest songs got a Christian tinge. His first...

 and Kjell Fjalsett

Kjell Fjalsett

Kjell Sigurd Fjalsett is a Norwegian singer and musician.He made a name for himself in the Norwegian gospel and Christian pop scene as a teenager in the choir Believe, covering the song "Oh Happy Day" among other things. He later formed the gospel group Frisk Luft together with Rune Larsen, Ivar...

. The group formed by coincidence when Larsen and Børud, performing at Hedmarktoppen, spotted the already-known Fjalsett and Skippervold in the audience and invited them onto the stage. They released two LPs in the 1970s, and participated in a television show named Gospelkveld ('Gospel Evening'). Members of Tvers contributed on their first LP. Frisk Luft was said to be the first Christian

Christian music

Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely across the world....

 supergroup

Supergroup (music)

In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....

 in Norway.

In the 1980s Børud performed with the group Børud-gjengen. It consisted of himself and his three children Thomas, Linda and Ole. The group was later expanded and renamed Arnold B. Family. Arnold B. Family participated in the Melodi Grand Prix

Melodi Grand Prix

Melodi Grand Prix is an annual music competition organised by Norwegian public broadcaster Norsk Rikskringkasting . It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1960.The festival has produced three Eurovision winners and...

 three times, reaching as high as second place in 1995

Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995

Norway's entry into the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 was "Nocturne" by Secret Garden. It went on to win that year's Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, marking Norway's second first place finish in its history in the Contest.- Results :- See also :...

—behind Secret Garden

Secret Garden (duo)

Secret Garden is an award-winning Irish-Norwegian duo playing New Instrumental Music, also sometimes erroneously known as Neo-classical music.Secret Garden features the Irish violinist Fionnuala Sherry and the Norwegian composer/pianist Rolf Løvland...

 with the song "Nocturne". Secret Garden would go on to win the Eurovision Song Contest 1995

Eurovision Song Contest 1995

The Eurovision Song Contest 1995 was the 40th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 13 May 1995 in the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. The presenter was Mary Kennedy. This contest broke the chain of victories that Ireland enjoyed in 1992, 1993, and 1994...

. Also, Frisk Luft made a public comeback in 1998, and released the record Lifetime Friends in 2000. In 2004 they followed with I'll Never Find Another You. Arnold Børud produced both albums. The group performs live every now and then.

Besides his music career, Børud works for Normisjon at a bible school in Grimstad

Grimstad

is a town and municipality in Aust-Agder county, Norway. It belongs to the geographical region of Sørlandet. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of Grimstad. Other notable places in Grimstad include Eide, Fevik, Fjære, Landvik, Prestegårdskogen, Reddal, and Roresanden.It is...

. In late 2007 he was awarded the HM The King's Medal of Merit

HM The King's Medal of Merit

The King's Medal of Merit is a Norwegian award. It was instituted in 1908 to reward meritorious achievements in the fields of art, science, business and public service. It is divided in two classes: gold and silver. The medal in gold is rewarded for extraordinary achievements of importance to the...

in gold.