Some pop stars have been believers for a very long time and openly discussed their relationship with God of their music, resembling U2 and Dolly Parton. Others have converted after they hit the massive time, including shock rock star Alice Cooper and boy wonder Justin Bieber. To a greater or lesser extent these stars allude to or refer on to their faith of their songs.
But sometimes pop stars produce a more out-of-the-blue offering, just like the latest Coldplay single. Here are five times mainstream pop stars surprised us with their Christian message:
Coldplay: We Pray (2024)
Their latest song was first broadcast at Glastonbury this 12 months and explicitly talks about prayer, hoping for forgiveness, and searching for God. It’s perhaps not as much of a surprise after learning that the band’s lead singer Chris Martin was brought up in a Christian home in England. However in interviews through the years he has described his experience negatively, using words like “strange indoctrination” and publicly rejecting the religion.
Is this latest song an indication of a change of heart?
“Pray I judge no person and forgive me my sins…
Praying in your love, we pray with every breath
Though I’m within the valley of the shadow of death…
And so we pray
For someone to come back and show me the best way”
We’re yet to listen to Martin comment publicly on the story behind the song, however the lyrics suggest there may very well be more to come back.
Johnny Cash: Man comes around (2002)
Cash’s rocky path through Christian faith and his Christian-themed songs are well-known. But one among the last songs he wrote before his death, “Man comes around”, was startling due to its underlying message to his fans: repent and imagine or face judgement.
He said the lyrics got here from the book of Revelation which makes it easy to extract the message of the song. The ‘man’ referred to within the title is Jesus on the day of judgement. “Everyone won’t be treated all the identical,” he says, and warns of a coming “terror” in order that the “hairs in your arms will get up.” He also offers his listeners an invite: “Will you partake of that last offered cup?” The entire song is a transparent warning and invitation to Christ for individuals who need to hear.
Norman Greenbaum: Spirit within the Sky (1969)
The 1969 release of this catchy tune about death and salvation with the refrain “I’ve got a friend in Jesus” was a surprise hit, perhaps more so because Norman was Jewish. However he betrayed his lack of awareness of the Christian message within the lyrics “Never been a sinner, I’ve never sinned” and so covers of the song often change these words. But Greenbaum had deliberately set out to write down a gospel song, and its meaning was clear:
“Prepare yourself, it is a must
Gotta have a friend in Jesus
So that if you die
He’s gonna recommend you to the spirit within the sky”
In the 80s the song was covered by the glam rock band “Doctor and the medics” which was also a surprise chart hit.
Candi Staton and The Source: You got the love (1991)
Florence and the Machine’s 2009 version of this song wasn’t known for its Christian meaning however the 1986 original by singer Candi Staton and The Source was about trusting God through difficult times. Staton’s own powerful vocals were then “sampled” on quite a few rave tunes as was common throughout the heyday of the “ecstasy generation.” But it was after they were set to a very catchy 1991 dance track (Eren bootleg remix) that the song catapulted into the charts.
Perhaps without careful listening it’d sound like several other love song, however the meaning is obvious:
“Sometimes I feel like saying “Lord, I just don’t care”
But you have the love I would like to see me through…”
“When food is gone, you’re my every day meat.
When friends are gone, I do know my Saviour’s love is real.”
It wasn’t the one gospel song to be heard on the dancefloor of the 90s rave scene, for instance Dr Alban’s “Sing Hallelujah” and Mary Mary’s “Praise you (Shackles)”.
Bob Dylan: Gotta serve any individual (1979)
He was rock royalty when he had a surprise conversion to faith in Jesus Christ and commenced to evangelise the gospel to his huge audiences. It was the song “Gotta serve any individual” that launched his latest faith to the world, with it’s message to all, including a “preacher preaching spiritual pride”, a “young turk” and the “wealthy or poor” that they’ve to select who they’ll serve:
“It stands out as the Devil or it stands out as the Lord
But you are gonna must serve any individual”
It was the primary of two and a half albums’ price of explicit gospel songs. This dramatic change was prompted by a strong encounter with Jesus: “I felt my whole body tremble. The glory of the Lord knocked me down and picked me up,” he reportedly said.
But after invoking the scorn of critics and even John Lennon himself, Dylan began to mute his public pronouncements about faith and lots of speculated he had apostatised.
However on the discharge of an album of Christmas carols in 2009 he told the Big Issue: “I’m a real believer.” More recently, he told the Wall Street Journal: “I’m a non secular person. I read the scriptures lots, meditate and pray, light candles in church. I think in damnation and salvation, in addition to predestination. The Five Books of Moses, Pauline Epistles, Invocation of the Saints, all of it.”
Heather Tomlinson is a contract Christian author. Find more of her work at https://heathertomlinson.substack.com/Â or via X (twitter) @heathertomli
