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How did American Christians go from hating rock ‘n’ roll to embracing contemporary worship music?
One reason is Pentecostalism’s influence. On Music and the Church, we’ve explored how important Pentecostalism was in making the change, and how influential it continues to be on contemporary worship. (Check out this episode if you’re curious.)
But Pentecostalism also had a huge influence on the development of rock ‘n’ roll itself, especially through the music of Little Richard, Elvis Presley, and James Brown – all musicians who worshipped in the Pentecostal tradition growing up.
On this episode, learn more about the connection between rock ‘n’ roll and American Christianity as Randall J. Stephens discusses his recent book The Devil’s Music: How Christians Inspired, Condemned and Embraced Rock ‘N’ Roll.
Randall J. Stephens is an Associate Professor of British & American Studies at the University of Oslo. You can follow him here on Twitter, and explore some of his other work on American Christianity here.
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