Disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker, who inspired songs by Ozzy Osbourne and Iron Maiden—among many others—has died. He was 86.
According to a report from the AP, Bakker died of unspecified causes on Oct. 5. In a statement, his wife, Lori Bakker, said: “He was a pioneer of Christian television, but to me, he was my husband, my best friend, and the man I was honored to walk beside through so many seasons of life and ministry.”
Jim Bakker was a famous TV evangelist in the 1970s and 80s. He and his then-wife Tammy Faye worked with the late Pat Robertson at his Christian Broadcasting Network, which included The 700 Club. They later co-founded the Trinity Broadcasting Network with Paul and Jan Crouch. Eventually, the former couple left to create their own ministries: PTL (Praise The Lord) and the PTL Satellite Network.
Jim Bakker was known for his strong opinions against rock and metal music in the 70s and 80s
Bakker’s televangelism career came crashing down in 1989 when he was convicted of massive financial fraud. He was also at the center of an alleged rape case involving church secretary Jessica Hahn. Bakker was accused of paying Hahn hundreds of thousands of dollars in hush money, which he denied. Ultimately, Bakker was slapped with a 45-year prison sentence that was later reduced to eight years.
So how does this connect to Ozzy and Maiden? I’m glad you asked. Bakker was often part of the outspoken group of religious leaders who criticized rock and metal music for being evil and satanic. IN response to this, Iron Maiden went pretty hard against organized religion on their 1990 album No Prayer for the Dying. Specifically, their hit song “Holy Smoke” was very much about Bakker and his ilk.
“This is about TV preachers and all the various lies they tell,” Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson said at the time, per UCR. “I just had this big image of all those ovens in the death camps with the preachers’ feet sticking out, and holy smoke going up.”
As for Ozzy Osbourne, he took aim at Bakker and fellow disgraced televangelist Jimmy Swaggart on 1988’s “Miracle Man”. Swaggart had also been caught up in a sexual infidelity controversy. By this time, both religious leaders had made tearful public pleas to their parishioners both domestically and abroad.
“They were always putting my records down and saying I was the Antichrist,” Osbourne once told Uncut, “and it turned out they weren’t so holy after all.”
Other music artists inspired by Bakker and his actions include Genesis and Black Sabbath in their Ronnie James Dio era.
Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns/Getty Images
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