Christian rock

{{bronze}}[[File:ChristianRock.jpg|right|165px|thumb|Thank God for Christian Rock!]]{{christianity}}
{{cquote|Can't you see you're not making [[Christianity]] better, you're just making [[Rock music|rock and roll]] worse!||| Hank Hill, '' King of The Hill (Reborn to be Wild)''<ref>[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8TsL0DO-c1E The Truth behind Christian Rock: according to Hank Hill (Season 8 Episode 2: Reborn to be Wild)]</ref>}}

{{cquote|All we have to do is cross out words like 'baby' and 'darling' and replace them with…. '[[Jesus]]'.||| Eric Cartman, ''[[South Park]] (Christian Rock Hard)''<ref>[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XUmHoqagXHI South Park: Replace Darling & Baby with Jesus]</ref>}}

{{cquote|I wanna get down on my knees and start pleasin' Jesus. I wanna feel his salvation all over my face!||| Eric Cartman, ''[[South Park]] (Christian Rock Hard)''<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL7dJwo6vUk South Park: Faith+1 Album Commercial]</ref>}}

'''Christian rock''' or '''contemporary Christian music''' is a catch-all term for rock, pop, [[hip-hop]], or other modern music where almost the entire focus is on [[Godbotherer|Godbothering]] lyrics.<ref group=note>God to Christians, "Turn off that racket, you're driving me crazy!"</ref> Most fans of secular music call it boring, lightweight fluff, more interested in pushing a message than making good music — and that just doesn't rock out at all. Some [[evangelist]]s are even more killjoy about it, considering it the work of the [[devil]] sneaking demonic jungle music into the church.

Contemporary Christian Music also seems unoriginal, as most songs borrow elements from other secular songs such as riffs, choruses, bridges, and sometimes lyrics.

Christian [[rock music]] is still banned at [[Bob Jones University]].<ref>[http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2011-11/bob-jones-university-questions-fundamentalist-label The Christian Century: Bob Jones University questions 'fundamentalist' label]</ref>

==History==
===Southern Gospel and the Jesus movement===
The origin of Christian rock is murky.  In the 1950s and early '60s, many rock & rollers recorded obligatory gospel albums on the side. This was not remarkable or surprising for the time. Many of them came from religious backgrounds, particularly [[Pentecostal]] or [[Baptist]], including [[Elvis Presley]], Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis, the latter of whom was the cousin of [[Jimmy Swaggart]]. Southern and Black gospel music was the ''de facto'' Christian rock of the '50s and '60s, and along with the emerging rock and folk music of the era, would have a lasting impact on the future genre. It enjoys a niche audience to this day, most notably in African-American churches, which developed their own, R&B/soul-influenced style known as "urban contemporary Gospel" that exists as an analogue to the contemporary Christian music scene.

Later in the '60s, as the British Invasion (largely removed from that religious background) took hold in rock and roll, it became associated with the counterculture and [[Fun:Hippie|hippies]].  Many hippies explored [[drug]]s, modern philosophy, Eastern religions like [[Hinduism]] and [[Buddhism]], offbeat [[cult]]s derived from such, [[New Left|radical politics]], and experimental modes of living, but some hippies were really into [[Jesus]], man.  They became known as the [[Jesus Freaks]] or Jesus movement.  

==="Jesus music"===
Christian rock as we know it today traces back to both the Jesus movement and to outside attempts by more conventional evangelists, most notably Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, to evangelize youth.  Larry Norman is most often mentioned as the first Christian rocker to emerge from the Jesus movement, and as such is now viewed as a "godfather" of sorts for Christian rock.<ref>Thompson, John J. [http://www.ccmmagazine.com/article/remembering-larry-norman/ "Remembering Larry Norman."] ''CCM Magazine'', April 2008.</ref> Meanwhile, a lighter Christian pop style began around the same time in the stable of groups associated with Chuck Smith and his record label, Maranatha! Music.<ref>Styll, John. [http://www.ccmmagazine.com/article/from-there-to-here/ "From There to Here."] ''CCM Magazine'', April 2008.</ref>

This stuff was called "Jesus music" back in the day, and most of it is really, really bad. Owing to its roots in hippiedom, it was largely the same sort of "peace and love" anthems that proliferated in that culture, only with references to God thrown in. Larry Norman is generally considered the exception; his albums were released on major labels and recorded in Beatles' producer George Martin's studio, and he was highly critical of the poor quality, questionable messages, and insular, anti-mainstream nature of most of the Christian music and fandom of the '70s and '80s, feeling that they were presenting a bad image and standing in the way of efforts to spread the Gospel.<ref>[http://twoln.clutteredsoul.com/intvw84.html "Strait Interview 1984."] ''The Words of Larry Norman.''</ref><ref>Vlastelica, Ryan. [https://www.avclub.com/the-founder-of-christian-rock-music-wouldve-hated-what-1823533655 "The founder of Christian rock music would've hated what it's become."] ''The A.V. Club'', 19 March 2018 (recovered 20 March 2018).</ref> 

In the early 1970s, an attempt to cash in on the popularity of Jesus briefly emerged with musicals like ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' and ''Godspell''. Norman Greenbaum's one-hit wonder "Spirit in the Sky" became a smash hit in 1970. Greenbaum, who has a traditional Jewish background, wrote "Spirit in the Sky" after realizing:
{{quotebox|“I thought, ‘Yeah, I could do that,’ knowing nothing about gospel music,” Mr. Greenbaum remembered. “So I sat down and wrote my own gospel song. It came easy. I wrote the words in 15 minutes.”<ref>Tom McNichol, [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/24/fashion/24norman.html A ‘Spirit’ From the ’60s That Won’t Die]. ''[[The New York Times]]'', 24 December 2006.</ref>}} {{wpl|Put Your Hand in the Hand|"Put Your Hand in the Hand"|,}} written by Canadian composer Gene MacLellan, was a hit for the band Ocean in 1971.

===Contemporary Christian music===
[[File:Jars of Clay.jpg|thumb|right|325px|Christian rock band "Jars of Clay" performs in 2007.]]
By the '80s, the counterculture aspects of the Jesus movement faded out entirely, and "Jesus music" became contemporary Christian music, or CCM, a catch-all term that encompasses religious-oriented rock and pop music. A lot of it in the late 1970s and 1980s were just bad carbon copies of popular secular bands at the time; the newly [[born again]] teenager could chuck out their AC/DC and replace it with a smorgasbord of choices like De Garmo & Key (fake Doobie Brothers), Petra (fake Styx), Don Francisco (fake Jim Croce), Randy Stonehill (fake Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1976, fake Elvis Costello in 1982), [[Steve Taylor]] (fake Oingo Boingo), and, um, Bob Dylan (not faking it, unfortunately).<ref group=note>Fortunately, this only lasted for three albums before he got involved in the [[Chabad Lubavitch]] strain of Hasidic Judaism. And, to be fair, these three albums were STILL better than 90% of other CCM.</ref>

CCM began to come into its own in the late '80s and early '90s once Amy Grant, Stryper, and Michael W. Smith started having crossover hits on the pop charts. Bands like the Newsboys and DC Talk would gain huge followings among religious audiences, the latter being notable for bringing [[hip-hop]] elements into the fold. The proliferation of big-box retailers and large music chains in the '80s and '90s expanded the reach of Christian music beyond religious bookstores; the share of albums sold by Christian stores fell from 90% in 1985 to less than half by 2000.

The genre experienced its greatest mainstream success in the mid-late 2000s with the rise of the metalcore genre, a fusion of [[heavy metal]] with [[Punk#Hardcore punk|hardcore punk]], with many of the biggest bands in the scene being either overtly Christian or otherwise adjacent to the faith.<ref>Wilt, James. [https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/z49934/confessions-of-a-teenage-christian-metalcore-superfan "Confessions of a Teenage Christian Metalcore Superfan."] ''Vice'', 5 April 2017 (recovered 20 March 2018).</ref><ref>The Punk Rock MBA: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-7IUQnYi0w "What Killed Christian-Core? (Tooth & Nail, Underoath, Sleeping Giant)]</ref> As the songwriting from these bands often diverged sharply from the more conventionally spiritual themes of their CCM counterparts, in particular embracing a sort of machismo that was typically absent from lighter CCM music, the sincerity of this faith was often called into question. In an infamous incident, Tim Lambesis, the frontman of the Christian metalcore band As I Lay Dying who was sent to prison for trying to hire a hitman to murder his wife, stated in a 2014 interview with ''Alternative Press'' that he and his bandmates had lost their faith and become atheists years ago, that they had continued to pose as Christians in order to maintain their success, and moreover, that very few of the Christian bands they toured with were actually Christian behind the scenes, rendering ''South Park'''s joke about Cartman's terrible Christian band all too real.<ref>Downey, Ryan J. [https://www.altpress.com/features/entry/tim_lambesis_world_exclusive_interview_as_i_lay_dying_singer_breaks_silence "Tim Lambesis world exclusive interview: The As I Lay Dying singer breaks his year-long silence."] ''Alternative Press'', 16 May 2014 (recovered 20 March 2018).</ref>

In 1997, [[Pat Boone]] released an album titled ''In a Metal Mood: No More Mister Nice Guy'' of mostly heavy metal covers that veered from lame to [[ironic]]. While not CCM ''per se'', it did cause screaming fits among the CCM audience due to Boone's reputation as a lifelong, clean-cut Christian.<ref>Wawzenek, Bryan. [http://ultimateclassicrock.com/pat-boone-in-a-metal-mood/ "20 Years Ago: Pat Boone Gets 'In a Metal Mood'."] ''Ultimate Classic Rock'', 30 January 2017 (recovered 19 October 2018).</ref> Boone was also noted to have been a friend of the late [[Black Sabbath]] frontman Ozzy Osbourne, going so far as to making a cover of Ozzy's signature song "Crazy Train" as the theme tune to the slice-of-life reality show ''The Osbournes''.

The term contemporary Christian music is occasionally also used for various modern religiously-themed instrumental/orchestral works, such as Maslanka's ''Unending Stream of Life: All Creatures of Our God and King'' or Holsinger's ''Abram's Pursuit'', though this meaning is usually made clear by its regrettably rare context.

==Reception==
[[Image:Jack_Chick_Angels.jpg|thumb|380px|right|Christian rock bands are known for their deep, insightful lyrics]]
{{cquote|Here was something that sounded worse than genuine [[Hip-hop|rap]].|||P. J. O'Rourke<ref>P.J. O'Rourke, ''Holidays in Hell: In Which Our Intrepid Reporter Travels to the World's Worst Places and Asks, 'What's Funny About This'''. Atlantic Monthly Press, 1988. {{isbn|0871132400}}.</ref>}}

Christian rock and CCM have long been caught in a twilight zone that prevented them from gaining much of an audience beyond a small niche. On the one hand, secular listeners tuned much of it out, viewing it as cheap ripoffs of "real" pop and rock. On the other hand, fundamentalist Christians were skeptical at best and hostile at worst, viewing it as an attempt to get good Christians to listen to "devil music" by presenting it as godly.

===From the secular===
In the '80s and '90s, a common (and not entirely unfounded) stereotype emerged that Christian rock and CCM were just bland product for the [[megachurch]] market and the poor man's substitute for secular pop and rock, trading musicianship and songwriting quality for Hallmark schmaltz, preachiness, and references to Jesus and other biblical elements.<ref>See: the ''[[South Park]]'' episode [http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s07e09-christian-rock-hard "Christian Rock Hard"].</ref> Even today, the Christian bands that have been best able to break into the mainstream, like Creed, P.O.D., Flyleaf, Thousand Foot Crutch, Skillet, and Underoath, have been those that have turned down the overt religious elements and written about secular subject matter in addition to Christian material.<ref>Or, as [[TV Tropes]] describes it, [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NotChristianRock "Not Christian Rock"]; i.e. music that incorporates religious/spiritual elements but rarely if ever includes overt Christian material.</ref> This, in turn, produces accusations of shaky theology from Christian critics; at least one such critic described it as "Jesus is my boyfriend" music.

Many popular "secular" musicians are openly Christian without being part of the CCM scene, with U2,<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMqBgDa_VuM "And I have no religion, and I don't know what's what..."] Acceptable now, CCM fans?</ref> Paramore,<ref group=note>When Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams sang the lyric "God, it just feels so good" in their song "Misery Business", she went so far as to [http://paramoremusic.livejournal.com/1305652.html apologize] to her fans for taking the Lord's name in vain. Later on, two members of the band [http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2010/december/disgruntled-rock-stars-cite-faith-as-reason-for-leaving.html left] partly because they felt that Williams' lyrics were too "secular" and went against what they believed in. (Williams would later [https://www.nme.com/news/music/paramore-axe-controversial-track-misery-business-live-shows-2377010 renounce the song entirely,] but for a very different reason, feeling that the lyrics endorsed [[Shaming|slut-shaming]].)</ref> and OneRepublic<ref group=note>They originally considered signing under a Christian label, but frontman Ryan Tedder was [http://theaguirrebulletin.wordpress.com/2011/04/26/onerepublic-lead-singer-chose-mainstream-instead-of-christian-industry/ repulsed] by the attitudes he saw in the Christian music scene, which he viewed as "pretentious and insecure", and avoided Christian rock as a result.</ref> being among the most famous examples (and their music is therefore considered acceptable to many CCM fans). However, such bands often go well out of their way to avoid the "Christian rock" label, as it is a kiss of death to secular listeners — kids who listen to CCM do so because they grew up in a household with evangelicals pushing the stuff. Katy Perry is another notable example: Perry — born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson — grew up in a conservative [[Pentecostal]] household, where secular music is discouraged and certain things such as the cereal brand Lucky Charms were taboo simply because the word "lucky" sounds too much like "Lucifer" to her parents.<ref>Hudson, Alice (2012). Katy Perry: Rebel Dreamer. Flame Tree Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85775-280-2.</ref> Perry released a {{wpl|Katy Hudson (album)|self-titled CCM album}} under her birth name which received mixed reviews and sold extremely poorly (which led to it being sought after by her fans if only for its historical significance), and she later transitioned to completely secular music since then, gaining notoriety for her hit single "I Kissed a Girl" which courted controversy for its exploration of [[bisexual]] themes. Nevertheless she still at least somewhat identifies as religious, going on record to tacitly criticise the Lady Gaga song "Alejandro" by tweeting "Using [[blasphemy]] as entertainment is as cheap as a comedian telling fart jokes",<ref name="PERRY">{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/08/katy-perry-slams-lady-gag_n_605040.html|title=Katy Perry Slams Lady Gaga's 'Blasphemous' New Video|date=June 8, 2010|access-date=June 16, 2010|work=[[HuffPost]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613173213/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/08/katy-perry-slams-lady-gag_n_605040.html|archive-date=June 13, 2010}}</ref> though she has openly expressed her support for [[progressive]] movements such as same-sex marriage among others.

[[File:The Afters, HF2015.jpg|thumb|right|435px|"The Afters" perform at HeavenFest 2015.]]

Other artists exist who openly profess a Christian faith but distance themselves from CCM because of American evangelicalism's [[Religious right|association with conservative politics]] (one example being Canadian singer Bruce Cockburn, whose politics run to the left<ref>[http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/music/Bruce_Cockburn_Still_Wondering_Where_the_Lions_Are/8264/p1/ Bruce Cockburn: Still Wondering Where the Lions Are]</ref>).

Then we have bands like Midnight Oil, best known for strident leftist activism — but all the tensions inside the band were between the born-again Christians and the non-Christians.

===From the Religious Right===
Fundamentalists and the American religious establishment have long had a fraught relationship with Christian rock and CCM. Once rejected in conventional churches, starting in the '80s such music was welcomed as an evangelism tool, and today many evangelical churches make heavy use of Christian rock and CCM. Even some of its critics eventually came around and embraced it once it became mainstream among evangelicals; one notable example is [[Bob Larson]], who went from an opponent to actively promoting Christian rock to callers on his ''Talk-Back'' radio show.

However, some diehard fundamentalists continued to reject any association of rock music with Christianity. To them, Christian rock and CCM were even more spiritually dangerous than their secular counterparts, acting as wolves dressed as sheep and leading the flock astray. [[Bob Jones University]], for one, continues to ban its students from listening to Christian rock and CCM. [[Jack Chick]] relied on the loony tall tales of [[John Todd]] claiming that the genre was a Trojan horse invented by [[Lucifer|Lou Siffer]] to get demonic music like "Embrace Me, Love of Death", sung by a band that was into [[vampire|vampirism]], into the church.<ref>[http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0034/0034_01.asp Chick, Jack T. "Angels?" (tract)]</ref> Todd, a phony "ex-Satanist" turned evangelist, claimed that he, back in his alleged "devil worship" days, personally gave a huge check from the [[Illuminati]] to Chuck Smith to launch Maranatha! Music.<ref>Hicks, Darryl, ''The Todd Phenomenon: Ex-Grand Druid vs. the Illuminati, Fact or Phantasy?'', New Leaf Press, 1979</ref> [[Jimmy Swaggart]] also wrote a book attacking Christian rock,<ref>Swaggart, Jimmy: ''Religious Rock 'n' Roll, a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing'', 1987</ref> in which he compared becoming a rocker in order to spread the gospel to becoming a [[prostitution|prostitute]] to spread the gospel.<ref>[http://religiousrock.blogspot.com/2005/01/chapter-9.html Religious Rock n Roll: Wolf In Sheep's Clothing]. Chapter 9: The Superstars. religiousrock.blogspot.com, January 2005.</ref><ref>See also [[Flirty fishing]].</ref> The book's effect was muted, though, as it came out around the same time that Swaggart's [[adultery]] scandal broke; apparently, he was an [[Hypocrisy|expert on the subject]]. [[David Wilkerson]] was initially a supporter,<ref>Wilkerson, David, "Confessions of a Rock Hater" (tract), Last Days Ministries, 1982</ref> but changed his mind and turned against Christian rock after being shocked — ''shocked!'' — to see [[Heavy metal#Christian_Metal|Christian metal bands]] wearing studded leather, which is of course associated with [[BDSM]] (and therefore, according to Wilkerson, [[demonic possession]]).<ref>Wilkerson, David: ''Set the Trumpet to Thy Mouth'', World Challenge, 1985, p. 84-117</ref>

==Fandom==
Christian rock fans are as rabidly anti-success as any hipster, metalhead or indie kid, condemning CCM artists selling any records outside the scene as "secularised" and "getting a bit ''worldly''." CCM bands with crossover talent often have to actively disassociate from the genre to achieve wider success. For instance, Evanescence went out of their way to avoid being labelled "Christian rock", knowing the effect it would have on their chances at radio airplay. Evanescence's (mostly CCM) label went so far as to have their records pulled from Christian stores, to avoid backlash towards their other acts, after the band started denying being a "Christian rock" group.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100123042314/http://new.music.yahoo.com/evanescence/news/evanescence-interview-ignites-christian-music-controversy--12047846 Evanescence Interview Ignites Christian Music Controversy]. Archived from Yahoo, 16 April 2003.</ref> 

Mind you, the CCM fans are still scrabbling for evidence that Katy Perry — who, before she proudly sang of kissing a girl and liking it, recorded a CCM album as 15-year-old Katy Hudson<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFvXOChyqdA Katy Hudson - Faith Won't Fail (ca. 2001)] - Arguably musically better, but not as weapons-grade-earworm catchy as her later pop career.</ref> — is a deeply sincere and devout Christian<ref group=note>Which she does appear to be, although she's rejected her pastor parents' fundamentalism.</ref> who ''will'' come back to CCM, gosh darn it.<ref group=note>This, however, is unlikely.</ref> Marrying Russell Brand (in a Hindu ceremony, no less) and going all but naked (but technically not indecent) on the cover of ''Rolling Stone'' are obviously [[dog whistle]]s to the adoring CCM fan base.

==Problems with sexual abuse==
In 2025, allegations would come to light that {{wpl|Michael Tait||,}} one of the founders of DC Talk and the long-time frontman of Newsboys (who made the song featured in the ''[[God's Not Dead]]'' movies) had a long history of sexual abuse of many men, some of whom were underage.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/13/michael-tait-sexual-assault-allegations ‘He stole a piece of our souls’: Christian music star Michael Tait accused of sexual assault by three men], Josiah Hesse, ''The Guardian'' 13 June 2025</ref> This was widely considered an open secret within the CCM scene and led to allegations of many of the higher-ups [[coverup|covering the allegations up]], with CCM-adjacent Hayley Williams of Paramore hoping the whole industry would burn down due to that reason.<ref>[https://variety.com/2025/music/news/hayley-williams-christian-music-crumbles-michael-tait-ccm-1236430953/ Hayley Williams Hopes Christian Music Industry ‘Crumbles’ Amid Michael Tait Scandal: ‘F— All of You Who Knew and Didn’t Say Anything’], Chris Willman, ''Variety'' 13 June 2025</ref> Although to be absolutely fair, given the {{wpl|P. Diddy}} situation it's not like the secular music industry is any better about this.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c869qd5j09xo Timeline of the charges and allegations against Sean Combs], Mark Savage and Alex Taylor, ''BBC'' 7 April 2025</ref>

==See also==
*[[Papyrus]], a favoured font on the CD covers
*[[Straight edge]], a similar fusion of rock music with moralistic values, albeit with very different inspirations.
*[[:Fun:Contemporary Christian Music Drinking Game]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|2|group=note|80%}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}
[[Category:Christianity]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Moral panics]]
[[Category:Purity culture]]
[[Category:Rape culture]]

Categories: Christianity, Music, Moral panics, Purity culture, Rape culture