Religion and spirituality are deeply personal and can have a profound impact on the lives of those who convert late in life. For these four rock stars, their relationships with God have transformed them not only musically but also as people. Take a look at four rock stars who discovered God late in life and how their conversion changed their music for the better.
1. Lou Gramm
Foreigner’s famous frontman suffered from a brain tumor in the 1990s. After experiencing a bout of visual impairment and memory loss, Lou Gramm realized he needed emergency surgery to remove the tumor.
After a traumatic experience, Gram quit Foreigner and became a born-again Christian. Many of his live performances after that fateful experience were a blend of Foreigner’s classics and Christian rock songs.
2. Bob Dylan
Of all the rock stars on this list who discovered God, Bob Dylan is probably the most well-known. Dylan’s religious turn was quite extreme, considering he was a protest singer who was famous for criticizing all kinds of leaders. In 1979, he toured to promote his gospel album Slow Train Coming, but famously refused to play any of his older songs. He also preached to audiences during this tour.
Around the mid-1980s, Dylan returned to Judaism, but he still hasn’t performed many of his hits from the 1960s and 1970s.
3. Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen was born into a Jewish-Canadian family in the 1930s and converted to Buddhism in the 1970s. He learned much about his spirituality under the tutelage of Zen master Kyozan Changshu Sasaki Roshi and found that spiritual path helped him cope with depression.
In the 1990s, Cohen chose to leave music completely to become a monk, but had to return to music after his manager embezzled most of his fortune. Despite having been a Buddhist for many years, he requested an Ashzenaki Jewish burial.
4. Dave Mustaine
Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine famously became a born-again Christian many years ago. Unlike similar musicians, he did not choose to leave the band. In fact, he became very particular about the bands he toured with. He eventually stopped refusing to tour with bands he considered “demonic” and now lives a life where he “feels a harmony between[his]spiritual life and his artistic life.” There is.
Photo by: Michael Ochs Archive
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