Skillet's John Cooper talks legalism, absolute truth and ‘demonic’ label on new Christmas song

When a small, yet vocal group of critics labeled Skillet’s new Christmas single, a rock 'n’ roll version of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” as “demonic,” frontman John Cooper didn’t react defensively. Instead, he laughed. Because, in his words, the response felt familiar and something he's been navigating for almost his entire life.

The 50-year-old Grammy-nominated artist grew up in a deeply conservative Christian home where rock music — especially Christian rock — was viewed as a spiritual danger.

“I grew up in a very fundamentalist home,” he told The Christian Post. “I went to Bill Gothard seminars as a young person because my family was so into that stuff.”

His late mother, who died from cancer when he was 15, remains one of the most important figures in shaping his spiritual foundation. She was, in his words, a “Jesus fanatic” who taught him the Bible and helped him memorize Scripture. 

“I've got nothing negative to say about my mom in the world. She was amazing,” he said.

But his upbringing, the singer shared, also included a strain of legalism.

“I wasn't allowed to listen to rock music,” he recalled. “My mom didn't want me wearing black, and then when I heard of Christian rock music, my mom was like, ‘That's even more demonic than secular rock music, because they're wolves in sheep's clothing.’”

“I think because of that, I just know that people who are into that, I know they mean well, I know that they love God. I think that they truly believe they are helping save people from the devil by warning them about Christian rock and roll,” Cooper continued. “It doesn't bother me, and I feel a little bit sad for people that they have that point of view, but I know that we're going to be in Heaven for eternity, so I'm not mad at them.”

The suspicion toward rock music shaped Cooper long before music became his vocation and before millions of fans would associate Skillet’s hard-rock anthems with faith rooted in worship.

Today, Skillet's first-ever Christmas song, conceived by his wife and Skillet creative partner, Korey Cooper, is charting across virtually every category: Christian, rock, alternative and holiday, sitting at No. 1 on several Billboard rankings while cracking iTunes’ overall Top Five.

“I love the song,” he said. “I thought our fans would like it, but honestly, they liked it more than I even thought they would. It's just been absolutely thrilling.”

Formed in 1996 in Memphis, Tennessee, Skillet has long been known for their hard-rock anthems that unapologetically place Christian belief front and center. And according to Cooper, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” a centuries-old Advent hymn centered on longing, fits in with Skillet’s mission of creating music that wrestles honestly with pain while ultimately pointing listeners toward hope in Christ.

“We believe in singing about things that matter,” Cooper said. “It makes sense for us to do something that would be so meaningful and that has a bit of a sadness to it. We call it a Christmas song, but it's really an Advent song. It’s a song about longing for the Savior. This is longing for the Messiah to come and rescue us. We're held captive to death. We're held captive to our flesh. We're in a world that is groaning for redemption. That sadness and longing really do make sense with Skillet.”

“I think Skillet fans realize that … more than maybe other people that don’t know who Skillet is,” Cooper added. “They might think it’s bizarre, but I think skillet fans were like, ‘Yeah, that just makes sense.’”

Cooper’s willingness to confront difficult cultural and theological subjects extends beyond Skillet’s music. On his “Cooper Stuff” podcast and in books like Awake and Alive to Truth, he takes on topics many artists sidestep, including critical race theory, Marxism and LGBT ideology — conversations that have cemented him as one of the most outspoken Evangelical figures in contemporary Christian music. 

Reflecting on why he continues to engage a ground so often fraught with resistance, Cooper said he sees it as a calling. He learned long ago, he said, that discipleship means pleasing God rather than people, even when it invites criticism.

“Following Jesus, in my very limited way, is picking up your cross and following Him daily,” he said. “This is a sort of ‘die every day’ kind of mantra. And if you are going to pick up your cross, then you say, ‘Alright, I'm going to obey Christ.’ And if that means you get made fun of, then you get made fun of. That’s what we signed up for. If people are going to hate you for what you do, that's what you signed up for. That's discipleship.”

“Jesus told His disciples, ‘Don't be shocked if people hate you, they hated Me first. They only hate you because you're following Me.’ So for me, it was just that decision was made a long time ago.”

Before she passed away, Cooper said his mother softened on her views as she battled cancer. And even as a boy, he said, certain contradictions troubled him, especially when fundamentalist fears clashed with biblical truths his mother taught him.

“I remember my mom teaching me … God created everything. There's nothing that is created that was not created by God. The devil does not create things. The devil distorts the things that God created so that we get confused,” he said. “Even as a 12 year old, I remember thinking that, how could the devil have created rock music? It just doesn't make any sense to me.”

“And when she died … I just thought, you know, at some point I've got to be my own person,” he said. “And not live the rest of my life under that thing.”

Freedom — the kind Paul extols in Galatians — became the guiding force behind his creative theology, according to Cooper, who added that it also sharpened his sense of purpose when Skillet crossed into mainstream rock radio in the early 2000s.

“I remember the first time I went into a radio station,” Cooper recalled. “They said, 'People say you're a Christian band. You guys can't possibly really be Christians, right?'”

“I said, 'Of course, we're a Christian band. I would never be embarrassed of Jesus. He's my hero. He's the reason I play music.'”

Now, decades after he entered the music scene, Cooper said he’s still just as sold out for Jesus, and he’ll continue sharing the truth, regardless of the backlash. Skillet's spring tour, in fact, will hit 23 cities, including London, Glasgow, Paris, Munich, Warsaw and Barcelona.

He’s stopped, he said, worrying about critics long before they ever found him online.

“The Christian life is like signing a contract,” he said, quoting a pastor named David Busby he listened to as a teen. “It’s a blank sheet of paper, and you sign the bottom of the page, and then you say, ‘OK God, now you fill it in.’ That impacted me as a young person. It wrecked my life. Whatever you fill in the contract: ‘I'm here, it's sold out for life.’”

As we become God pleasers, we have to learn that, yeah, that's going to be making men mad sometimes, and you want to do it in the most loving way you can, but sometimes that's just not possible. They're gonna hate you anyway. That’s been a very big thing for Skillet as an example.”

“O Come, O Come Emmanuel” is now available. Tickets to the tour are on sale now at Skillet.com.