Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Ozzy Osbourne: (b. 1948, England, aka: John Michael Osbourne; The Prince of Darkness) Heavy metal vocalist and songwriter.  Best known for his song, “Crazy Train.” Anglican.

Dion: (b. 1939, New York, USA, aka: Dion Francis DiMucci) Singer, songwriter best known for his songs “Run Around Sue,” and “The Wanderer.” Evangelical.

Bob Dylan: (b. 1941, Minnesota, USA; aka: Robert Allen Zimmerman) Singer, songwriter, painter, sketcher.  Best known for his songs “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “The Times They Are a-Changin,’” and “Like a Rolling Stone.”  2012 United States Presidential Medal of Freedom winner. He was a convert from Judaism.

Uyaraq: This man was the first Inupiak convert in Alaska (late Nineteenth Century) and spent the last twenty years of his life as an evangelist in Alaska (USA).  He was known to break long-standing social taboos, ridicule the local animist shamans, and hold the Bible up in the air to demonstrate its power.  

Bob Marley: (b. 1945, Jamaica- d. 1981; aka: Robert Nesta Marley)  Singer, songwriter, guitarist. Marley is considered to have been the face of the Reggae music movement.  He was a Rastafarian who, in 1981, was baptized into the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.  His final words were, “Jesus take me.” 

Bob Dylan's Christmas Album

Bob Dylan (b. 1941 as Robert Allen Zimmerman) was a 1979 convert to Christianity. Many of his fans thought he was nuts as he released albums containing overtly Christian lyrics. They got over it and realized he was still Bob Dylan.

Now, Dylan has released Christmas in the Heart, a collection of Christmas themed songs. The first single from the album, Must Be Santa, features a video of Dylan in a Santa hat at a boisterous Christmas party singing in his unmistakable gravelly, almost on key, voice. Critics immediately declared he had released the video as a spoof.

Dylan thought otherwise and didn't mind saying so. He said he was pushing his musical boundaries and that true fans of his music would understand. "Critics like that are on the outside looking in. They are definitely not fans or the audience that I play to. ... Even at this point they don't know what to make of me. These songs are part of my life ..." Looks like Bob Dylan is still Bob Dylan, a little cranky, very serious and cerebral, genuine, and aware of his place in music history. God bless him!