Original Newsboys frontman John James is speaking candidly about the devastating consequences of sin, the pain surrounding the band’s latest scandal, and the powerful redemption he says only God can bring.

James, one of the founding members of the Christian rock band Newsboys, is sharing his story in a new memoir, Newsboy: My Story of Hope and Second Chances. In the book, he reflects on the personal failures that led to his departure from the band in the late 1990s and the long spiritual road that followed.

“I had disqualified myself,” James wrote, offering a raw admission that has taken on new meaning amid the recent scandal involving former Newsboys singer Michael Tait, who has faced disturbing allegations of sexual misconduct.

Speaking recently on CBN’s Faith in Culture Podcast, James said watching the controversy surrounding the band unfold has been heartbreaking.

“It breaks my heart to see the legacy end this way,” he said.

Before Peter Furler and Michael Tait became the faces of the Newsboys, James was the group’s original lead singer. The Australian musician helped launch the band in 1985, alongside Furler and Wes Campbell, in a garage in Queensland, Australia. As the Newsboys rose to fame in Christian music, James said his private life was quietly unraveling.

According to James, the rise of internet messaging in the 1990s opened the door to inappropriate online conversations that spiraled into emotional affairs filled with sexual content. At the same time, he was battling alcoholism behind the scenes.

Eventually, while the band was working on its seventh studio album, Step Up to the Microphone, James confessed his struggles to Furler. Soon after, he exited the Newsboys in 1997.

But leaving the band did not immediately lead to healing.

James said his life continued to spiral downward. His first marriage ended, drug use became an escape, and depression took hold.

Now in his early 60s, James says genuine repentance — not simply public confession — became the turning point in his restoration.

“It wasn’t because of anything I could do,” he explained, “but it was the mercy and grace of God, that He constantly and lovingly drew me back to the foot of the cross in repentance.”

James emphasized that repentance required more than saying a quick prayer.

“That was more than just a prayer I said [at the altar],” he said. “[It was] allowing the Holy Spirit … to address the brokenness and the sin in my life.”

Over time, he said, God began freeing him from addiction, shame, and the depression that had consumed him.

Today, James and his wife, Tanya, serve together as missionaries across the United States. While he says healing is possible, he cautioned that restoration is often a slow and painful process.

“It’s a long journey,” he said.

That perspective has also shaped how he views the painful allegations tied to Tait and the broader fallout surrounding the Newsboys’ name.

“My heart goes out to the people who were wounded, the victims, the people who were betrayed, just absolutely tragic,” James said. “There are absolutely consequences to sin.”

At the same time, he believes Christians should never lose sight of redemption.

“No one is beyond redemption,” he said.

James acknowledged he still carries the scars and consequences of his own mistakes decades later.

“I carry the consequences and the scars of my mistakes and my sin that shipwrecked my time with the Newsboys,” he explained. “I carry those scars for the rest of my life. But we cannot take redemption off the table.”

For James, the Gospel is ultimately about God bringing healing out of brokenness, even in situations that seem impossible to redeem.

“My prayer for everyone involved with the Newsboys tragedy is that, somehow, God would weave a redemptive story out of it,” he said. “I don’t know how, I don’t know how long, but one day, we would look back and think, ‘Man, that was the worst thing that ever happened. But man, what a testimony, God, of forgiveness, of repentance, of mercy, of grace, of healing that You brought out of that.'”

“Redemption,” he added, “is God’s specialty.”