Christian rock originated in the late 1960s and early 1970s. At the time, it was known as “Jesus Music”, a grassroots movement led by the long-haired hippie His Outsiders. Gradually we built our own infrastructure of record stores, media, festivals and radio stations. Major labels took notice and began buying Christian labels or starting their own imprints.
The first split was Amy Grant, a crossover artist of the generation, performing songs that could be interpreted as devout or romantic. This was a middle ground, known derisively as the “Jesus is my boyfriend” or “God or girl” phenomenon in some of his CCM circles. But Daigle’s crossover was different, according to close observers.
“Lauren represented a new kind of stardom with her openly confessional language,” said Joshua Karin Bassman, assistant professor of music history at the University of North Carolina Pembroke. He spoke openly about his personal relationship with God without ambiguity.”
As a child, Daigle dismissed Christian music as cheesy. She grew up in a religious home that welcomed secular music “unless her F-bomb goes off every five seconds.” She often got into trouble at school by cheating and talking too much. She believes herself to be her ADHD, and she also mentions “some of her OCD” and a few depressive episodes.
As her interest in music grew, she cleaned the bathroom of a church choir director in exchange for singing lessons. However, she also fell ill with symptoms such as extreme fatigue, jaundice, and poor eyesight. She eventually learned that she had a chronic disease, Cytomegalovirus, and she began homeschooling her, using the syllabus and a series of her VHS tapes as a guide.
She started reading the Bible and had a vision of herself becoming a music star. “I could literally see the stage and tour buses. I said, ‘God, are you showing me this or are you going insane?’ Everything I saw came true.” So I think it was God. ”
