Christian Singer Carman Died Last Month :-(

March 03, 2021, 08:45 AM

Hound Dog

I just found out that Carman died on February 16 of this year, due to complications from surgery. Age 65. I never knew that.

I recall listening to his albums in the early 1990s right after I found Jesus. His music was very instrumental in the early years of my walk of faith.

I saw a concert of his (RIOT album) in the late 1990s - it was an AMAZING show. He was a superb entertainer.

https://www.christianitytoday....-las-vegas-tour.html

quote:
After a 40-year career in Christian music, Carman died in Las Vegas Tuesday night due to complications from surgery. He was 65.

He was a one-name celebrity, and for those who knew him, the Christian singer and showman ranked in the highest echelons of American stardom, up there with the other mononymous divas: Madonna. Cher. Liberace. Carman.

For those who didn’t know him, the single name was repeated as a question. Carman? But if Carman’s star never quite secured its place at the zenith of American fame, he never let that dim his belief in his own celebrity, the awesome power of the concert-show-crusade-event, and his commitment to producing a pop spectacle for Jesus.

“The music is the best means I have of reaching the most people in the quickest way to win them to Christ,” Carman said. “I think an artist owes it to his audience to thrill them and impress them. It lets people know there is joy in being Christian.”

Carman, born Carmelo Domenic Licciardello and raised the youngest of three children in an Italian American family in Trenton, New Jersey, won seven Dove Awards. He was nominated for four Grammys, named Billboard’s Contemporary Christian Artist of the Year in 1990 and 1992, and sold more than 10 million albums. In 2013, 30 years after his first hit and on the heels of his cancer diagnosis, his fans raised $280,000 for him to go on a 60-city tour.

“When Carman resumed touring again a few years ago, he was concerned that no one would care that he was back. He was wrong. Every night fans packed out venues, and his ministry was as powerful as it ever was,” Matt Felts, Carman’s manager, said in tribute. “This world has lost a light in the darkness, but today Carman saw firsthand the fruit of his labors.”
**SNIP** [more at link]

March 03, 2021, 09:32 AM

BigSwede

RIP

I had one of his tapes in the 80's, played it over and over

March 03, 2021, 09:43 AM

OKCGene

Dang. Complications from Hiatal Hernia surgery.
.

March 03, 2021, 10:09 AM

jaaron11

Carman and Petra were my musical rocks (get it!) in the '80s. I saw him in concert in Tucson around '89 or '90, very entertaining performer.

March 03, 2021, 10:11 AM

Flash-LB

quote:
Originally posted by OKCGene:
Dang. Complications from Hiatal Hernia surgery.
.

Is that lawyer speak for "the doctors killed him"?

March 03, 2021, 10:34 AM

PASig

That sucks, yes he was a familiar name in my home growing up in the 80's and early 90's with Amy Grant, Petra, Steve Taylor, Stryper etc.

March 03, 2021, 10:46 AM

YellowJacket

He was a truly unique performer and songwriter. His songs were entertaining and told amazing stories, more than just songs. He was perfect for that 80s-90s Charismatic movement. From accounts I've heard he was the real deal.

March 03, 2021, 02:37 PM

SIGWALLY

His music had a positive influence on my Christian Faith. Saw him in concert with my kids in Lakeland, Florida in 89-90 or so. Great show. R.I.P my Christian Brother...

March 03, 2021, 03:00 PM

jhe888

I did not know who he was.

I watched his videos "Satan Bite The Dust" and "A Witch's Invitation." Had I not known that he was in earnest, I might have thought they were tongue-in-cheek or parodies. I think you have to admit they are a bit odd, at the very least.

He wouldn't have been to my taste, but I am sorry you have lost someone you found to be important.

March 03, 2021, 03:40 PM

erj_pilot

Awwwww man! I remember when his big hit was "The Champion" waaaaaay many, many moons ago. Sad to hear...

"If you’re a leader, you lead the way. Not just on the easy ones; you take the tough ones too…” – MAJ Richard D. Winters (1918-2011), E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil... Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel." - Isaiah 5:20,24

March 03, 2021, 04:28 PM

Black92LX

So this is kind of weird. I had not listened to his Music in at least 25 years.
I was a youngster and remember his song The Champion and it was cool even went to a concert that was good but also thought it was kind of cheesy.

About a month ago The Champion came on one of my streams. Figured I would search it on Amazon Music. I had absolutely no idea he had so much music. So have been listening to it here and there for the last month.
Had not heard that he had passed.

A little Wikipedia tidbit.

quote:
In November 2011, Carman was the passenger in a car that was struck by a truck from oncoming traffic. The accident took place just outside the church where his appearance was scheduled. He performed the concert, but collapsed afterward and required surgery to repair internal injuries.