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The Unlikely Endurance of Christian Rock
posted on September 25, 2018The New Yorker’s Kelefa Sanneh profiles Larry Norman, the antiestablishment father of Christian rock who founded the still popular genre in the late sixties. Norman, who died in 2008, eventually became disenchanted by Christian rock as he found it too limiting: “According to industry conventions, Christian bands were expected to eschew profanity and any drug stronger than caffeine. They were also expected to proclaim their faith in Jesus.” Sanneh adds, “Over the years, Christian rock has been generously subsidized, not just by church organizations but also by parents, willing to buy whatever albums and concert tickets might inspire their children to keep the faith.”