{"id":43990,"date":"2025-04-25T14:41:55","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T18:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=43990"},"modified":"2025-04-25T14:41:55","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T18:41:55","slug":"legendary-frontmen-discuss-christian-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2025\/04\/legendary-frontmen-discuss-christian-album.html","title":{"rendered":"Legendary Frontmen Discuss Christian Album"},"content":{"rendered":"
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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<\/em>, which took the top of Christian and Gospel charts. According to the brothers, the album had been a long time in the making. \u201cWe 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,\u201d said Donnie<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Prior to the album\u2019s release, the brothers stated faith has always been a huge part of their lives. \u201cPeople think we are a bunch of heathens, but us Van Zants have been Christians for a long time,\u201d Johnny said in an interview<\/a>. 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. \u201cI call it a Jesus record, because every song is about Jesus. We\u2019re not preachers, but you sure can preach to people in a song,\u201d said Donnie.<\/p>\n

The brothers\u2019 faith comes from their upbringing in a Christian home. \u201cOur 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,\u201d said Johnny. Focusing on careers and living the good life put that faith on the \u201cback burner\u201d but Johnny noted that trials would bring them back. \u201cBut 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,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In a previous interview<\/a>, Johnny shared about some of the ways he had wandered from God. \u201cI\u2019ll be honest with you, the devil was my best friend at one time. I\u2019m not gonna lie about that and there ain\u2019t too much that I didn\u2019t try over the years, but I always kept hearing our dad speaking the Bible [in my mind],\u201d he shared. He acknowledged that as a kid he had listened to \u201chalf of it.\u201d \u00a0\u201cI always believed in Jesus Christ, but I wasn\u2019t saved and I felt like I had my personal connection, just like the song \u2018It\u2019s Up To You\u2019 that\u2019s on this new album. Over the years, that voice of my dad was reminding me to try to be a better person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite their iconic claim to fame, both brothers agreed that the \u201ccoolest\u201d thing was loving Jesus. \u201cWe love praising His name, and anytime we can do it, we’re there,\u201d said Johnny. The album\u2019s purpose, the brothers admit, is to bring other people \u201ccloser to God, closer to Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":43993,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"\nLegendary Frontmen Discuss Christian Album<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rock legends Donnie and Johnny Van Zant trade fame for faith, releasing a powerful Christian album to bring listeners closer to Jesus.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2025\/04\/legendary-frontmen-discuss-christian-album.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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