Stryper

The idea that Christian metal could conquer mainstream audiences was unthinkable before Stryper blew up in the ’80s. When the Southern California band formed in 1983, heavy metal was infamously associated with demonic forces and pentagrams. Sporting yellow-and-black outfits inspired by Biblical scripture, Stryper flipped the script with a spiritually uplifting sound that married singer Michael Sweet’s angelic cries and pop-savvy songwriting to smoking hot licks. The group’s third album, 1986’s To Hell with the Devil, sold over a million copies and contained the hits “Honestly” and “Calling On You.” Preceding Amy Grant’s crossover blockbuster Heart in Motion by half a decade, the record proved that Christian artists could compete commercially with their secular counterparts. Though Stryper split up in the early ’90s, they returned in 2005 with Reborn, an album that finds them embracing a darker, riff-driven attack reflective of Christian metal’s increasing heaviness in the 21st century. Subsequent releases like 2015’s Fallen and 2020’s Even the Devil Believes are just as ferociously righteous and further cement Stryper’s legacy as one of the most important faith-based acts of all time.