History Main / ChristianRock

* Music/The77s

** Whether Grant could be honestly said to have ''left'' Christian music is debatable. It's true that in the early part of TheNineties, she began downplaying her typical Christian subject matter in favor of songs with more universal themes, but she never quite abandoned it altogether; even ''Heart in Motion'' has two explicitly Christian songs, "Ask Me" and "Hope Set High". Despite receiving criticism from her more fundamentalist fans for "selling out," her music remained family-friendly, clean and positive, with some mainstream media outlets dubbing her the "anti-[[Music/{{Madonna}}]]." And at any rate, since her mainstream success dried up in the early 2000s, Grant has drifted back toward religious music in recent years; two of her last three albums have been collections of religious songs. She hasn't promoted a single to mainstream/secular radio stations in several decades. And even at the height of her mainstream success, her albums were carried in both Christian and mainstream record stores, and she continued to release some singles (such as "Ask Me" and "Helping Hand") exclusively to Christian radio.

** The Seventy Sevens: Another new wave-influenced band who were poised to break out of Christian music altogether in the late-80s. They actually wound up getting a deal with major label Creator/IslandRecords, but unfortunately, their 1987 self-titled third album got lost in the label's promotional shuffle for Music/{{U2}}'s ''The Joshua Tree'' and underperformed. Their followup album, 1990's ''Sticks and Stones'', is widely considered to be one of the best Christian rock albums ever recorded.

* Music/OwlCity is mainly a secular IndiePop project, but Adam Young is a devout Christian and this sometimes reflects the lyrics of songs. ''All Things Bright and Beautiful'' is named for a hymn, and some tracks could be described as "Christian Indietronica".

* Music/RelientK is a Christian punk-pop band with a penchant for quirky lyrics and, early on especially, pop culture references. They've become a bit more vague, but they are still in the genre. They even did a cover of "ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything" which - while not actually a religious song - was originally written by Christian cartoon show, WesternAnimation/VeggieTales.

* Music/{{Stryper}} was a Christian {{hair metal}} band that hit near mainstream success in the 80s with their single "Honestly".
** Occasionally used by hairband fans as proof that theirs is the Greatest Genre EVER because Stryper is Christian rock, but are comparable in quality to most bands in the genre. The argument being, "Even ''Christian'' hairband is good, because we're just ''that'' awesome."
** Their version of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhkYdD-QlKk Battle Hymn of the Republic]]" is one that has made even detractors of Christian rock step back and say "That was actually pretty good". Some hymns were just made for heavy rock.

* It's debatable whether Music/{{Creed}} is Christian rock or simply PostGrunge. If they're the former, then they're by far the most successful band the genre has ever seen.

* Music/{{Mutemath}} is a similar example. Their first EP was released under a Christian sub-label, so the band found a different company to sign with. They've since seen much more exposure, but their albums can still be found in Christian music stores. (Don't think they qualify as Christian rock? Go listen to "Peculiar People", read Isaiah 40:31 and get back to me.)

* [[/index]]Special mention needs to go to the band Mortification. They're an Australian death metal band (it's covered above, but these guys ''need'' to be mentioned), probably most famous for doing the song "Livin' Like a Zombie" -- the song that plays during the [[ShockSite shock video BME]] [[{{Squick}} Pain]] [[{{Gorn}} Olympics]]. They're legends within both the Christian Metal and Death Metal scenes -- probably for being a very, very good Christian rock band.

** Steven Curtis Chapman is almost as popular.

* Music/AmyGrant started out making explicitly Christian pop music -- her catalog spanning from her {{self titled album}}, ''My Father's Eyes,'' ''Never Alone,'' ''In Concert Vol. 1 and 2'', ''Age to Age,'' ''Straight Ahead,'' ''Unguarded.'' At the end of TheEighties and the beginning of TheNineties, she left that genre for mainstream music. ''Lead Me On'' and ''Heart in Motion'' were the transitional albums with ''Heart in Motion'' containing the pop smash "Baby, Baby". She hasn't renounced the Christian music, but she's no longer specifically in that genre.
** Whether Grant could be honestly said to have ''left'' Christian music is debatable. It's true that in the early part of TheNineties, she began downplaying her typical Christian subject matter in favor of songs with more universal themes, but she never quite abandoned it altogether; even ''Heart in Motion'' has two explicitly Christian songs, "Ask Me" and "Hope Set High". And at any rate, Grant has drifted back toward religious music in recent years; two of her last three albums have been collections of religious songs. And even at the height of her mainstream success, her albums were carried in both Christian and mainstream record stores.

* Michael W. Smith is one of the most popular artists in the history of Contemporary Christian music. He had some brief success on the pop charts in the early '90s with "Place in This World" and "I Will Be Here For You", but with his 1995 album ''I'll Lead You Home'', he returned to overtly religious music and hasn't looked back since.

** Adam Again: An eclectic band that mixed folk, blues and new wave and had a string of well-reviewed albums in the 1980s and '90s. The band led by singer Gene Eugene, whose voice was often compared to [[Music/{{REM}} Michael Stipe]]. The band also included his then-wife Riki Michele, who garnered scandal in conservative Christian circles for [[TheNewRockAndRoll dancing onstage]].[[note]]Her dancing was similar to what secular 1980s college rock or new wave artists did at the time, and would be considered [[RuleAbidingRebel extremely tame]] outside of the Christian music scene.[[/note]] The band broke up after Eugene [[AuthorExistenceFailure died in 2000]].

Compare NotChristianRock (when music seems as though it could be Christian Rock, but isn't), and GodIsLoveSongs (in which the Christian elements are understated). The opposite is ReligionRantSong, for music that takes a negative view of faith.

* [Music/{{POD}} has probably had the most mainstream success of any Christian rock band (unless you count Creed within the genre). If anybody doubts that they're Christian rock, then listen to the lyrics of their hit "Alive", and get back to me. They were popular enough that, when frontman Sonny Sandoval named his daughter Nevaeh ("heaven" [[SdrawkcabName spelled backwards]]), that name quickly shot up from being unheard of to being one of the most popular baby names in the country. It's even on the page for TheRedStapler.

* During the 1990s punk resurgence, one of the bigger marquee names was a band called Music/MxPx. They were on MTV's ''120Minutes'' and everything. What hardly anyone in the secular world knew was that they were a Christian punk band. Yet they managed to fit in just fine in the same genre as Music/{{Rancid}} and Music/TheOffspring.

!!Subversions/Ambiguous

* Bible Rap, or as its aficionados call it, "Holy Hip-Hop":
-->The Bible is the holy book
-->So let's open it up and take a look
-->You got Genesis/Exodus/Leviticus/Deuteronomy...
** Bible Rap may be the most theologically-focused genre of Christian music. Witness Flame's "Who Can Pluck Us," a rap song about ''predestination'', of all things: "For all those the Father chose in eternity past/ To be redeemed that simply means to be bought back".
*** Many people, on hearing Shai Linne for the first time, say that they got more solid doctrine from one album than an entire year of Sunday School.
** On the other hand, some "Christian rappers" are basically the early days of Creator/WillSmith, remixed, with an occasional positive Christian vibe just because of their personal background. So basically if you like Will Smith you'll think these guys are OK and if you don't then you won't.
** Gospel group Mary Mary is known for creating gospel songs that are different from the usual (a full choir with a preacher leading a la Kirk Franklin) and that are more like R&B songs with Christian lyrics, that actually are played on non-gospel R&B stations.
** Gospel rap would be considered not a form of christian rock, but GospelMusic, a genre unto itself.
* ChristianMetal.
** Christian [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBjWwzemnyE Death Metal]].
*** For a straight Death Metal/Deathcore example, check out [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28FZ1ijkQBk Impending Doom]] and their self-proclaimed "Gorship" style of worship to God through their music. If you look back in their discography, their first EP ("The Sin and Doom of Godless Men") is almost Noise.
** Christian BlackMetal. But since Satanic themes are practically part of the definition of the genre, this is called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unblack_metal Unblack Metal]]. Black Metal fans are less than pleased with this, even when these bands otherwise have the same sound.
*** It doesn't help that the musical tone of black metal makes it pretty much impossible to talk about anything and not portray it in a completely twisted and evil light.
*** Really most Unblack Metal is mostly about what will happen to you in Hell if you aren't a good Christian. Basically a LogicBomb for [[ComicBook/ChickTracts Jack Chick]]
*** Although Antestor manages to pull it off rather well. Having just as many songs about despair, helplessness and suicide as they do about Jesus and God helps. And musically, they're regarded by many secular BM fans as one of the best Black Metal bands out there (by many of those who aren't part of the church-burning SeriousBusiness portion of BM fandom, anyway). Funny enough, the drummer on their 2012 album ''Omen'' is from, of all bands, Mayhem (yes, ''that'' Mayhem).
*** Hardly surprising. Hellhammer (of "yes, that Mayhem") is about as prolific a drummer as you're likely to find anywhere. Wheel him in behind a kit and he'll keep hitting the thing until you make him stop. Seriously, go look up how many albums the guy's actually played on.
** Rackets and Drapes, called the Christian version of Marilyn Manson, they definitely live up to that title. Also, the lead singer Kandy Kane admits to being a cross-dresser.
** In a strange twist, the metal band Vengeance Rising started as a Christian band, but the frontman and remaining member, Roger Martinez, later renounced Christianity and now seeks to make anti-Christian music. The other members have since reunited under the name Once Dead.
** {{Industrial metal}} band Circle of Dust is an interesting example. While they became easily one of the most successful bands in the Christian metal scene, they usually received some flak from more conservative Christian listeners for their "music first, faith later" approach. One of the members, Scott Albert (later known as Klayton), expressed dissatisfaction with said criticism and left the Christian metal scene entirely to form Music/{{Celldweller}}. He bought the rights to all the Circle of Dust releases in 2015, and released a new album under its name, ''Machines of Our Disgrace'', in 2016, this time with all the traces of Christian metal being wiped out entirely.
** ''Music/{{Theocracy}}'' is a Christian Progressive Power Metal band.
** Music/BlackSabbath. No, really, just listen to the lyrics for their classic "After Forever":
-->'Could it be you're afraid of what your friends might say if they knew you believe in God above? They should realize before they criticize that God is the only way to love.'
** Music/{{Tourniquet}} is a Christian Progressive ThrashMetal band.
* Music/{{Skillet}} started out with songs that were not at all subtle about worshiping Jesus, but eventually turned their sound more mainstream, switching to lyrics that were ''kind of'' about Jesus. Lead singer John Cooper has stated in interviews that it is the band's desire to be relevant to Christians and non-Christians alike, but they're still very much a Christian band. Given that they still (as of 2009, at least) read from the Bible during concerts, that seems to indeed be the case and John does preach too.
* Andy Hunter and his contribution to the ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeedUnderground'' soundtrack, "The Wonders Of You". It is, in fact, Christian {{Techno}}.
** And his contributions to the ''[[Film/TheMatrixReloaded Matrix Reloaded]]'' trailer, and ''Series/{{Alias}}'', and ''VideoGame/BurnoutRevenge'', and ''[[Film/TheItalianJob2003 The Italian Job]]''... the list goes on.
** In a similar vein Music/DemonHunter, an unapologetically Christian Metal band has several tracks on the VideoGame/KillingFloor2 soundtrack, including This I Know: A song that's pretty explicitly about a righteous badass laying waste to hell and references God as the "one name above all".
* Long-lived performer Music/CliffRichard has managed a bit of this with some of his specifically Christian-themed music.
* Music/{{Stryper}} was a Christian {{hair metal}} band that hit near mainstream success in the 80s with their single "Honestly".
** Occasionally used by hairband fans as proof that theirs is the Greatest Genre EVER because Stryper is Christian rock, but are comparable in quality to most bands in the genre. The argument being, "Even ''Christian'' hairband is good, because we're just ''that'' awesome."
** Their version of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhkYdD-QlKk Battle Hymn of the Republic]]" is one that has made even detractors of Christian rock step back and say "That was actually pretty good". Some hymns were just made for heavy rock.
* Cezare Bonizzi is a Capuchin monk, with long flowing beard and vows of poverty and all that... and he's also the lead singer of an Italian heavy metal band and is known as Brother Metal. He's appeared with such metal giants as Music/IronMaiden, Music/JudasPriest and Music/{{Slayer}}.
* Music/AmyGrant started out making explicitly Christian pop music -- her catalog spanning from her {{self titled album}}, ''My Father's Eyes,'' ''Never Alone,'' ''In Concert Vol. 1 and 2'', ''Age to Age,'' ''Straight Ahead,'' ''Unguarded.'' At the end of TheEighties and the beginning of TheNineties, she left that genre for mainstream music. ''Lead Me On'' and ''Heart in Motion'' were the transitional albums with ''Heart in Motion'' containing the pop smash "Baby, Baby". She hasn't renounced the Christian music, but she's no longer specifically in that genre.
** Whether Grant could be honestly said to have ''left'' Christian music is debatable. It's true that in the early part of TheNineties, she began downplaying her typical Christian subject matter in favor of songs with more universal themes, but she never quite abandoned it altogether; even ''Heart in Motion'' has two explicitly Christian songs, "Ask Me" and "Hope Set High". And at any rate, Grant has drifted back toward religious music in recent years; two of her last three albums have been collections of religious songs. And even at the height of her mainstream success, her albums were carried in both Christian and mainstream record stores.
** Grant's leaving Christian music in search of mainstream success coincided with her divorce from husband Gary Chapman so that she could marry Vince Gill after the two had a long-time affair (some people call the affair one of the worst kept secrets in Nashville). In an interview with ''Contemporary Christian Magazine'', Grant infamously justified her divorce by claiming that God had "released" her from her marriage. In fairness to Grant, her marriage to Chapman was very volatile and meeting Gill was how she discovered how toxic her marriage to Chapman was.
* Music/{{Switchfoot}} is somewhat on the fence, as most of their music does not explicitly reference Christianity, but some of it makes no sense until a Christian perspective is taken on the lyrics. "Dare You To Move" from ''The Beautiful Letdown'' is a good example. Jon Foreman (the group's lead singer and usual writer) is a Christian and his work does tend to reflect that fact.
** Switchfoot was a little more obviously Christian with their first few albums; "The Beautiful Letdown" actually wasn't their first release, it was their fourth. Granted, their success since going mainstream would seem to prove that the "Christian rock" label narrows down your audience by a huge degree.
** It's worth noting that the band rejects the label specifically because they feel that it excludes people who aren't Christians but would still enjoy the music. Their official stance is "The band members are Christians, it is reflected in the music, but the music is not written to be explicitly Christian in nature. We want to make music that everyone can relate to."
* Similarly, it's debatable whether Music/{{Creed}} is Christian rock or simply PostGrunge. If they're the former, then they're by far the most successful band the genre has ever seen.
* [[Music/{{POD}} P.O.D.]] has probably had the most mainstream success of any Christian rock band (unless you count Creed within the genre). If anybody doubts that they're Christian rock, then listen to the lyrics of their hit "Alive", and get back to me. They were popular enough that, when frontman Sonny Sandoval named his daughter Nevaeh ("heaven" [[SdrawkcabName spelled backwards]]), that name quickly shot up from being unheard of to being one of the most popular baby names in the country. It's even on the page for TheRedStapler.
** Their beliefs were considerably more overt in their initial period as an indie band, then they toned it down when they first signed to a major label. Over time, they became disillusioned with the Christian music industry (especially Sonny, who even walked away from music entirely for a time) and in present times, they still certainly make their faith known, but Sonny has stated in at least one interview that they're good with Christ himself, but hate the concept of religion.
* Music/{{Evanescence}} is a subversion. They were initially referred to as a Christian rock band, but they have publicly rejected the label, even asking for Christian music stores to stop selling their albums. Commercially, it was a smart move on their part -- Christian rock bands usually don't go on to sell over fifteen million records internationally. Amy Lee was quoted on the other wiki as stating the Christian labeling was Ben Moody's thing. He left the group shortly after.
* Music/{{Mutemath}} is a similar example. Their first EP was released under a Christian sub-label, so the band found a different company to sign with. They've since seen much more exposure, but their albums can still be found in Christian music stores. (Don't think they qualify as Christian rock? Go listen to "Peculiar People", read Isaiah 40:31 and get back to me.)
** Funnily enough, "Peculiar People" was co-written with Jon Foreman of Switchfoot. Lead singer Paul Meany and drummer Darren King also used to be in the Christian [[GenreBusting rock/rap/reggae/funk/electronic]] band Earthsuit.
* Music/KatyPerry used to be a Christian pop singer before switching to mainstream pop songs. She's still a professing Christian, though.
* Music/JessicaSimpson, before she achieved mainstream success.

* Music/RelientK is a Christian punk-pop band with a penchant for quirky lyrics and, early on especially, pop culture references. They've become a bit more vague, but they are still in the genre.
** They even did a cover of "ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything" which - while not actually a religious song - was originally written by Christian cartoon show, WesternAnimation/VeggieTales.
* Music/TheRedJumpsuitApparatus are another group which is on the fence; their first album, ''Don't You Fake It,'' emphasizes the general theme of being a good person (see their breakout single and anti-abuse song "Face Down"), but ''Lonely Road'' and ''Am I The Enemy?'' have more heavily Christian themes in the lyrics. For example, "Believe," from ''Lonely Road,''talks about needing "a little help from above" to change the world. "Wake Me Up," from ''Am I The Enemy?'', more straightforwardly discusses Christian redemption:
--> Wake me up, I don't want to live without your love.
--> Life me up - take me to a place not far above.
* One of the pioneers of the genre was Music/{{Petra}}, founded in 1974. Their name is Greek for "rock", and that's pretty much the only descriptor of their style that's vague enough to remain accurate throughout their history (in the '80s alone, they went from sounding like Music/{{Kansas}} to being a heavy metal band), with synthesizer-fueled pop-rock somewhere in the middle. They got a ''lot'' of flak early on for daring to play rock music (which many Christians at the time were still uneasy about), and levered a couple {{Take That}}s to their accusers in response.
** Considered by many to be ''the'' pioneers of Christian Rock... they were the first band inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Not to mention their 4 Grammys and 11 nominations.
* Speaking of Petra, the three founding members of [[Music/{{KingsX}} King's X]] were all fans of the group and started their own band – then called The Edge – in 1980. In 1987 they changed their name and sound but stayed true to Christian and other spiritual topics, getting quite some recognition from the Christian Rock scene although they never openly aligned themselves to it. Their association with the genre got subverted when lead singer/bassist Doug Pinnick publically declared his loss of faith (as well as coming out as gay) and sang about it on the band's albums "Dogman" and "Ear Candy" among others.
* Another pioneering group was 2nd Chapter of Acts. Brother/sisters trio Annie Herring, Nelly Ward, and Matthew Ward released their first singles in 1972 and their first album 2 years later. Known for their amazing vocal harmonies, they are probably the originators of the Christian concept album with ''The Roar of Love,'' based on Creator/CSLewis's ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'' .
* KJ-52 is a comedy rapper as much as he is a Christian rapper.
* The band Music/{{Red}} is a Christian rock band (although if you don't pay attention to their lyrics you wouldn't know). If you don't believe it, listen to "Already Over".
* Christian pop musician Carman ('''not''' Cartman, though [[WesternAnimation/SouthPark he and his friends dabbled in this trope as well]]... sort of). He is probably one of the biggest stars that the Christian music scene has ever produced, having sold over ten million albums and holding the records for the largest Christian concerts in history.
* Special mention needs to go to the band Mortification. They're an Australian death metal band (it's covered above, but these guys ''need'' to be mentioned), probably most famous for doing the song "Livin' Like a Zombie" -- the song that plays during the [[ShockSite shock video BME]] [[{{Squick}} Pain]] [[{{Gorn}} Olympics]]. They're legends within both the Christian Metal and Death Metal scenes -- probably for being a very, very good Christian rock band.
* Former ''Series/AmericanIdol'' contestant Music/ColtonDixon has taken this direction after Idol ended, and is currently touring with Christian rock band Third Day. However, he has been criticized for his lyrics "not being religious enough". Figure that one out.
* Music/NealMorse of the [[ProgressiveRock Prog Rock]] groups Spock's Beard and Transatlantic. After converting to Christianity, Morse produced the Christian themed concept album, ''Snow'', with Spock's Beard, after which he focused on a solo career focused on his new found faith, often deviating from his prog rock roots, though he has produced several prog rock Christian concept albums, including ''?'' about the tabernacle and ''Sola Scriptur'' about Martin Luther.
* The Music/{{Newsboys}}: absurdly popular among Christians, unheard-of elsewhere. Which is too bad, 'cause their music is ''really'' catchy. (One example: "Shine")
* The UrExample: Larry Norman's 1972 album ''Only Visiting This Planet''. Norman is generally viewed as the godfather of Christian rock, and ''Visiting'' is widely considered to be one of the best Christian records ever made, even earning a spot in the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry. A song from the album, "I Wish We'd All Been Ready", was on the soundtrack for the Christian film ''A Thief in the Night'', which is basically a [[TheSeventies Seventies]] version of ''Literature/LeftBehind''.
** Later on, Norman would grow disenchanted with the Christian music scene, claiming that it had become about "sloppy thinking, dishonest metaphors, and bad poetry," and joking that you could write a Christian pop song by taking a secular [[SillyLoveSongs love song]] and [[GodIsLoveSongs replacing "baby" with "Jesus"]].
** In 1969, Norman released his debut album ''Upon This Rock'' for Capitol Records. It's now widely considered to be the first Christian rock album, but at the time, it was something of a flop. Secular audiences and critics were bemused by its content and didn't really know what to do with it. Christian leaders lambasted it and Norman was denounced on air by the era's top televangelists. To wit, they believed ''Upon This Rock'' was ''even more'' harmful to Christian youth because [[WindmillCrusader it lured them into listening to that evil rock & roll through a Christian message]]. By the time the CCM market was in full force, Norman was widely considered a legend within it, but he kept the industry at an arm's length. He also took every opportunity he could to play for secular audiences, believing that only performing to Christian audiences that only listen to Christian music was limiting to him as an artist and was basically preaching to the choir.

* OlderThanTheyThink: Ricky Nelson was doing this as early as 1960 with his hit single "Glory Train."

* Music/JoyElectric and Music/{{Starflyer 59}}, led by brothers Ronnie and Jason Martin, respectively, are funny cases in that their lyrics sound like NotChristianRock bands, but when asked whether or not they're Christian bands, they always reply in the affirmative. Joy Electric eventually released an album in 1999 titled ''[=CHRISTIANsongs=]'' so everyone would stop asking him. Jason Martin, on the other hand, has explained that he's usually reluctant to write songs about God because he's afraid that name-dropping Jesus in a song that turns out crappy would just be disrespectful.

* Keith Green should get a mention, since he (along with 2nd Chapter of Acts) practically invented Christian rock back in the 70s. He was notable for taking DoingItForTheArt to an extreme: he concluded it was immoral to make money from music praising Jesus, so he stopped charging money for concert tickets or albums. His death in a 1982 plane crash at age 28 was a big blow to the genre. And he ''really'' could play the piano...
* Family Force 5 deserves mention. "It's better than drugs/in fact it's sent from above" (from Love Addict") is a reference to God, if indirect/vague; they've played at Christian concerts, and they even mention God directly in "Peachy".
** They also did a cover of the song "In My Minds Eye," originally done by [[Music/{{dctalk}} DCTalk]], mentioned above.
* Music/DemonHunter is an example of a relatively well known Christian {{Metalcore}} band. However, even listening to their lyrics, it's hard to tell.
* Michael W. Smith is one of the most popular artists in the history of Contemporary Christian music. He had some brief success on the pop charts in the early '90s with "Place in This World" and "I Will Be Here For You", but with his 1995 album ''I'll Lead You Home'', he returned to overtly religious music and hasn't looked back since.
** Steven Curtis Chapman is almost as popular.
* "Christcore", a Christian subgenre mixing HardcorePunk with {{Metalcore}}, got huge in the late 00s/early 10s. Bands often included in it, officially or unofficially, include Music/TheDevilWearsPrada, August Burns Red, Mychildren Mybride, Music/AsILayDying, Oh Sleeper, Music/{{Underoath}}, Music/{{Zao}}, Norma Jean, Attack Attack!, and Haste the Day, among others. They appealed to religious and non-religious listeners and became popular to the point that Norma Jean played at Mayhem 2010 with, for example, the decidedly non-Christian Music/LambOfGod and many of these bands are fixtures on festivals like the Vans Warped Tour. Its fans are still just as likely to try to break your face in the pit as any other hardcore fans, though.
* Music/BobDylan embraced the genre in the late '70s and early '80s, with his albums ''Music/SlowTrainComing'', ''Saved'', and ''Shot of Love''. These three records aren't well liked by secular Dylan fans, but ''Slow Train Coming'' received some retroactive acclaim, and [[Music/{{U2}} Bono]] has named ''Shot of Love'' as one of his favorite Dylan albums.
** During that period, Dylan was good friends with the aforementioned Keith Green and played a harmonica solo on Green's 1980 album ''So You Wanna Go Back To Egypt''.
* Another seminal figure in Christian Rock is guitarist Phil Keaggy, who is widely admired by secular guitar aficionados for his virtuosity. There's a popular incorrect urban legend about an interviewer asking Music/JimiHendrix how it felt to be the world's greatest guitar player. He responded by saying, "I don't know, you'll have to ask Phil Keaggy." Incorrect because Keaggy was still unknown by the time Hendrix died. The real story is possibly more fantastic: Hendrix actually praised [[Music/ZZTop Billy Gibbons]], then a member of [[http://www.last.fm/music/The+Moving+Sidewalks/+images/39344425 The Moving Sidewalks]].
* ''Day of Fire'' is a repeatedly stated Christian Rock band, whose songs are so rock that it's hard to notice the christian references, unless they directly throw it in there, and even then it's hard to notice sometimes (Rain Song comes to mind). Having a guitarist tour previously in a non-christian rock band certainly helps with the sound. Unfortunately, they recently went on hiatus.

* Music/SixpenceNoneTheRicher started as a Christian Rock band before finding mainstream success in the late '90s.
* Music/BarlowGirl. Their single, "I Need You To Love Me," is to date the longest number one hit in CCM radio history.
* In 2000, right smack in the middle of the BoyBand craze, Christian teenage girls got Plus One. They zoomed to the top of the CCM charts, and had one or two mainstream hits. It didn't hurt that they fulfilled the number-one boy-band priority: being ridiculously good looking.

* Brian Welch, guitarist of Music/{{Korn}}, left the band when he became a Christian and started a solo career. He rejoined the band in 2013.

* Music/AlyAndAJ are mainly a mainstream pop duo, but have had success on Christian music charts as well.
* Mercy Me, which wrote crossover hit "I Can Only Imagine" and is still tremendously popular in Christian rock/pop circles.
* Music/{{Needtobreathe}}.
* DoomMetal band Trouble were once marketed as "white metal" due to their Bible-influenced lyrics and their admitted Catholic-upbringing. The musically similar Pentagram also deal with Christian themes, with frontman Bobby Liebling claiming he wanted to put the fear of God into people.
* Charlie Daniels (from the eponymous band, whose songs included "Long-Haired Country Boy" and "Uneasy Rider" ... as well as "Devil Went Down to Georgia", which, while certainly anti-Devil, wasn't exactly "Christian" either) released an album in the 1990s entitled ''Steel Witness'', on which the songs, while some of them were rather catchy, were about as subtle as you'd expect from an album with cover featuring a riveted cross approximately the size of South America.
* In case you think that Neal Morse is the only example of Christian prog rock, you'd be wrong- there's also Ajalon, who take their name from Joshua 10:12 in Literature/TheBible. [[Music/{{Yes}} Rick Wakeman]] has collaborated with them before. (Wakeman is himself a professing Christian, and has released some Christian stuff, but it's not most of his output.)
* After Music/GrandFunkRailroad disbanded in the 1980's, guitarist Mark Farner started a Christian solo career.
* Music/SufjanStevens may be the best known exponent of Christian indie rock. Christian themes in his work are sometimes subtle and sometimes fairly obvious ("Get Real Get Right" for example) but always pretty complex.
* Creator/EdKowalczyk, former lead-singer of {{Music/Live}}, plays a lot of straight-forward Christian songs these days. Still doesn't stop him from dropping one and other ClusterFBomb in older songs like "Waitress".

** Music/DanielAmos: The most famous of the quartet. Originally a country rock band before a series of [[GenreShift Genre Shifts]] left them as a [[NewWaveMusic new wave]] group similar in style to Music/{{XTC}} or Music/TalkingHeads. Recorded several acclaimed records that critiqued modern, organized religion and televangelism, and made them highly controversial as a result.

* Music/PattiSmith can't easily be called a Christian artiste, but she has explored explicitly Christian themes, most notably in ''Easter'' and in her take on the 23rd Psalm (''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRsGdP5LgWE Privilege - Set Me Free]]'''), which uses the psalm to throw down a challenge to God - to make Himself worthy of her worship. ''Dancin' Barefoot'' can also be read as a take on the ''Hail Mary'' devotional prayer - rewritten the Patti Smith way but still with a certain reverence.
* Eddie [=DeGarmo=] and Bob Farrell: ''[[Music/{{Hero}} !HERO: The Rock Opera]]'' (2003)[[note]]Both [=DeGarmo=] and Farrell are Christian music veterans in their own rights. [=DeGarmo=], the uncle of 2004 Series/AmericanIdol runner-up Diana [=DeGarmo=], was part of the long-running [[LongRunners 1978-95]] group ''[=DeGarmo=] & Key'' with childhood friend Dana Key before settling in as a producer and record executive. Farrell, meanwhile, had been part of a short-lived early Jesus music group called Dove, later recorded several albums as part of the duo Farrell & Farrell alongside [[CreatorCouple his wife Jayne]] before shifting focus to work primarily as a songwriter[[/note]].

* Music/PrefabSprout: while songwriter Paddy [=McAloon=] had often flirted with religious themes before (in particular the closing sequence of ''Jordan: The Comeback'', which among other things includes a VillainSong written from the point of view of Satan), he'd never quite gone into actual Christian Rock... until the release of ''Let's Change The World With Music'' on which several songs are unambiguously advocating for Christianity.
* Music/{{Delirious}} were a British Christian Rock band that existed from 1992-2009.

* Brian Welch, former guitarist of Music/{{Korn}}, left the band when he became a Christian and started a solo career. You can find his records in Christian stores.

** The only Christian alternative band to really break into the mainstream during the late 80s and early 90s was The Ocean Blue, and they did so in such a way that their secular fanbase would have never guessed that they were ever anything other than another college rock band. The band got signed to Creator/SireRecords, then still one of the top alternative labels in the country, and were fairly popular in the pre-Music/{{Nirvana}} days of alternative radio.

* Keith Green should get a mention, since he (along with 2nd Chapter of Acts) practically invented Christian rock back in the 70s. And he ''really'' could play the piano...

** During that period, Dylan was good friends with Christian musician Keith Green and played a harmonica solo on Green's 1980 album ''So You Wanna Go Back To Egypt''.

* The Music/{{Newsboys}}: absurdly popular among Christians, unheard-of elsewhere. Which is too bad, 'cause their music is ''really'' [catchy. (One example: "Shine")

* ''RedDwarf'': Krytie TV: In an attempt to ruin Kochanski's date with ex-boyfriend Tim, Kryten helps Lister trash Tim's quarters. Kryten gives Lister a number of Rimmer's possessions to place around Tim's quarters. Apparently the pièces de résistance are some Christian rock music CD's, given "if they don't scare her off, nothing will!". One of the CD's is titled "Frank Assisi and the Apostles - Hymns in Rock".

->'''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic:''' ''[Imitating Raphael]'' And now I'd like to tell you about this other dude I know!
-> '''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd:''' ''[Imitating Leonardo]'' Who's that, Raph?
-> '''The Nostalgia Critic:''' A totally gnarly dude named Jesus! He died for our sins! And that's awesome!
-> '''The Angry Video Game Nerd:''' Jesus rocks, dude!
-->-- ''[[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles TMNT: Coming Out of Our Shells]] [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=3SW7fSAYhws review]]''

* The ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode, "Christian Rock Hard", took this concept to the next level. In the episode, Cartman decides to form a Christian Rock band to win a bet with Kyle. But to avoid doing any actual song writing, he resorts to mostly copying off lyrics from pop love ballads and changing certain words, like "baby" to "Jesus", and because he didn't change anything else, most of his band's songs ends up being about [[IntercourseWithYou wanting to have sex with Jesus]].

** Funnily enough, "Peculiar People" was co-written with Jon Foreman of Switchfoot. Lead singer Paul Meany and drummer Darren King also used to be in the Christian [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly rock/rap/reggae/funk/electronic]] band Earthsuit.

-->-- ''[[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles TMNT: Coming Out of Our Shells]] [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=3SW7fSAYhws review]]

''[[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles TMNT: Coming Out of Our Shells]] [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=3SW7fSAYhws review]]

* The Music/{{Newsboys}}: absurdly popular among Christians, unheard-of elsewhere. Which is too bad, 'cause their music is ''[[EarWorm really]]'' [[EarWorm catchy]]. (One example: "Shine")