Brothers Donnie and Johnny Van Zant made names for themselves as frontmen for popular bands. Donnie founded the band .38 Special, while Johnny is the lead singer for the band Lynyrd Skynyrd. However, the brothers have now teamed up to make a name for someone beside themselves: Jesus Christ. In November the brothers released their first Christian album, Always Look Up, which took the top of Christian and Gospel charts. According to the brothers, the album had been a long time in the making. “We just told each other, if we could just bring one person to Christ, it would be worth this whole project, really. And I think we’ve done that a lot over — to the glory of God. He gets the glory,” said Donnie.

Prior to the album’s release, the brothers stated faith has always been a huge part of their lives. “People think we are a bunch of heathens, but us Van Zants have been Christians for a long time,” Johnny said in an interview. For years they had planned to make a Christian album but their busy lives had often kept that from becoming a reality. That changed, however, when COVID hit, giving the brothers, who are also neighbors, ample time to work on it. The two wrote most of the songs themselves and were inspired by things as simple as a painting of Jesus. “I call it a Jesus record, because every song is about Jesus. We’re not preachers, but you sure can preach to people in a song,” said Donnie.

The brothers’ faith comes from their upbringing in a Christian home. “Our father knew the Bible back and forth, and if you didn’t want to listen, you had to listen. And if you had to use the bathroom while he started preaching, you were in trouble,” said Johnny. Focusing on careers and living the good life put that faith on the “back burner” but Johnny noted that trials would bring them back. “But God said we go through trials and tribulations. And you know, when you start going through those trials and tribulations, you really start going, ‘Whoa, I really need Jesus Christ in my life,’” he said.

In a previous interview, Johnny shared about some of the ways he had wandered from God. “I’ll be honest with you, the devil was my best friend at one time. I’m not gonna lie about that and there ain’t too much that I didn’t try over the years, but I always kept hearing our dad speaking the Bible [in my mind],” he shared. He acknowledged that as a kid he had listened to “half of it.”  “I always believed in Jesus Christ, but I wasn’t saved and I felt like I had my personal connection, just like the song ‘It’s Up To You’ that’s on this new album. Over the years, that voice of my dad was reminding me to try to be a better person.”

Despite their iconic claim to fame, both brothers agreed that the “coolest” thing was loving Jesus. “We love praising His name, and anytime we can do it, we’re there,” said Johnny. The album’s purpose, the brothers admit, is to bring other people “closer to God, closer to Jesus.”