By Michael Foust
Correspondent, The Alabama Baptist
Skillet frontman John Cooper acknowledges his band’s music is difficult to define.
Christian rock? Sort of. Mainstream rock? Kind of. Hard rock? Yes. Popular? Most definitely.
The band has sold more than 12 million albums worldwide and has seen their music streamed hundreds of millions of times. They play at mainstream rock concerts throughout the world and at Christian festivals too. They just released their 10th studio album, “Victorious.”
Cooper and his bandmates — wife Korey Cooper, Jen Ledger and Seth Morrison — might be the most successful crossover rock band ever. And they haven’t abandoned their faith — in fact it’s just the opposite.
Viral Facebook post
Cooper received widespread attention this summer when he penned a viral Facebook post urging Christians to stop relying on worship leaders and “influencers” for truth and instead to “rediscover the preeminence of the Word” of God. The church, he said, must “value truth over feeling.” He posted it after author and former pastor Joshua Harris announced that he had left Christianity and after a singer for Hillsong said he was “losing” his faith.
The post’s popularity was ironic considering Skillet’s music isn’t explicitly Christian although it does contain biblical themes. And the band’s fans run the gamut — atheists, agnostics and yes, Christians.
“I believe music speaks to people. And I want to use my platform to reach as many people for Christ as I can,” Cooper said. “I’ve had people say, ‘I’ve been a Skillet fan over 10 years and I had no idea that you are a Christian band. … Our lyrics are not overt. What I think is most Christian about Skillet is not actually the lyrics … [It’s] the things we talk about in interviews, the things I say on stage and the lives that we live. I always talk about Christ at the shows — how Jesus has changed my life.”
Skillet’s new song “Legendary” from the “Victorious” album urges the listener to live a life that matters. It contains the lyric: “While I’m alive, I’ll push through the pain, I’ll run for the prize.”
It’s not a Christian song in the traditional sense, but it’s easy to see the scriptural reference in it.
“We only have a short life to live,” Cooper said, explaining the meaning, “so let’s run for the prize which is Christ. Christ is the prize. Let’s finish the race strong.”
“Victorious” isn’t the only new project by Skillet. Cooper also has a new graphic novel — a comic book — that features him and his bandmates as the protagonists. It’s called Eden.
“It’s an exciting science fiction book without the cursing and without the mature stuff that everybody can enjoy,” he said. “A family can read it.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Michael Foust covers the intersection of faith and entertainment as a media reviewer for The Alabama Baptist. He also is the husband of an amazing wife and the father of four young children.
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