The Petra Zone

Legendary recording artist John Schlitt—solo artist, lead singer for Grammy Award-winning Christian band Petra and former lead singer for mainstream rock band Head East—has been named the best rock singer in Christian music history by GospelMusicChannel.com.

Senior music editor Andy Argyrakis selected Schlitt for the top position, identifying the best ten rock singers in terms of undeniable talent, vocal ability and indelible impact upon generations past and present.

"I'm very surprised, but very honored," said Schlitt upon learning of the announcement. "To be considered first among talent such as Kevin Max and Michael Sweet is truly an honor." Other artists on the list include Switchfoot lead singer Jon Foreman, 2008 AMA Emerging Artist of the year Mike Farris, Phil Keaggy, dc Talk's Michael Tait, Skillet's John Cooper, Burlap to Cashmere lead singer Steven Delopoulos and Tony Vincent.

Schlitt continues to tour as a solo artist and as GospelMusicChannel.com states, "remains one of the most distinctive and impactful men to ever stand behind a microphone."

With more than three decades worth of water under the musical bridge, John Schlitt has earned multiple Gold Records, Grammys and Dove Awards. He has toured all over the world and has been inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame as a member of Petra. After 20 years fronting Petra, one of the most successful rock bands in Christian music history, Schlitt recently released his third solo album, The Grafting, on 4K Records. Still passionate about the message of the Gospel and compelled to deliver it in his own inimitable fashion, he called on the multiple talents of rising star producer/songwriter Dan Needham (Amy Grant, Petra, Michael McDonald) to help craft his vision.

The Grafting finds Schlitt exploring uncharted musical territory, while remaining anchored by his unmistakable voice. At once intimate and accessible, The Grafting is without a doubt Schlitt's most potent solo album to date.

The Grafting is available on 4K Records and is distributed by New Day Christian Distributors in the U.S. and internationally by Go Global Entertainment. For more information on John Schlitt and his latest project, The Grafting, visit johnwschlitt.com.


A Big CONGRATS to John you really deserve this one

Awesome, isn't it?

Here's the original story on Gospel Music Channel:

http://www.gospelmusicchannel.com/news/ ... 17?page=-1

It looks like the page is a bit messed up... there are all kinds of comments in with the story, and double comments too - but you get the idea of it.

I think we're all not surprised.

Yeah, in the article he said he was surprised, but he must be the ONLY one who was surprised!

By the way, I'm a newbie here - so HI EVERYONE!

This is great! A great compliment to John and I agree completely.

John is an amazing singer with a great unmistakable tone and style - not to mention an amazing range. From his days with Head East to his latest solo album "The Grafting" John has kept his voice in excellent shape. On top of producing great vocals in the studio - John has always been able to equal that greatness live on stage which is where I believe he really shines.

Congrats John! You deserve it.

Welcome to the Zone Jan!

Funny thing is - John does NOTHING to keep his voice in shape. He does everything wrong, and readily admits it! lol!

Welcome aboard, Jan - good to 'see' you here! You've been listening to Petra a long time?

Hi Sue! I first heard of Petra in 1990 or 1991. I was SO VERY excited to find out there was such a thing as Christian rock! I grew up on rock (70's and 80's) but never knew of any Christian music outside of church until we got a Christian comtemporary radio station about 1988. They played only the mellow Petra songs, but I still liked them. And then a friend let me borrow a couple of Petra tapes and told me John used to be in Head East, and I said "So, he's a REAL rocker!!! Awesome!" I never went to a Petra concert though.

The same friend told me John used to be a cocaine addict. Back then I knew almost nothing about cocaine, I had barely heard of it. So I said, "what do you mean - USED to be? I thought people died from that, They don't just 'get over it.'" The friend told me "people DO die from it, but God delivered him from the addiction." That was so amazing to me that it gave me chills. I had never heard of anyone being delivered from drug addiction.

Ok, that was probably a longer answer than you expected, but there ya go!