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Jim Bakker, one of the leading televangelists of the \u201880s, died of unspecified causes on Oct. 5<\/a> at the age of 86.<\/p>\n His career as a TV preacher came to an end in 1989 when he was convicted of defrauding his followers of at least $158 million, including $3.7 million he\u2019d diverted for personal use. He was also the subject of a range of sexual accusations, including the alleged rape of Jessica Hahn, which he denied after paying $279,000 for her silence.<\/p>\n By the time he was sentenced to 45 years in prison \u2013 later reduced to eight years \u2013 he\u2019d been the subject of various investigations for a decade, but three of them had ended with no action despite evidence against him, leading to suspicions of political influence in his favor.<\/p>\n READ MORE: <\/strong>When Genesis Skewered Televangelism with ‘Jesus He Knows Me’<\/a><\/p>\n The activities of Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, Pat Robertson, Morris Cerullo,\u00a0Robert Tilton and others eventually led to a change in broadcasting laws.<\/p>\n Bakker\u2019s headline-making behavior inspired a number of rock musicians to criticize his criminal ways in song. Genesis<\/a>\u2019 1991 single \u201cJesus He Knows Me\u201d was about Bakker and others, featuring the lyrics \u201cI believe in family \/ With my ever lovin’ wife beside me \/ But she don’t know about my girlfriend \/ Or the man I met last night.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Iron Maiden<\/a> had addressed the suspicious activities of televangelists in general in 1990\u2019s \u201cHoly Smoke.\u201d When it was released, Bruce Dickinson<\/a> said in a statement: \u201cThis is about TV preachers and all the various lies they tell\u2026 I just had this big image of all those ovens in the death camps with the preachers\u2019 feet sticking out, and holy smoke going up.\u201d<\/p>\n Ozzy Osbourne<\/a> had expressed similar views in 1988\u2019s \u201cMiracle Man,\u201d which was partly about Bakker and partly about fellow preacher Swaggart (the \u201cJimmy Reptile\u201d in Maiden\u2019s song) \u2013 who by that point had been found out and performed tearful apologies on TV.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were always putting my records down and saying I was the Antichrist,\u201d Osbourne later told Uncut<\/em><\/a>, \u201cand it turned out they weren\u2019t so holy after all.\u201d<\/p>\n On 1992 track \u201cTV Crimes\u201d the Ronnie James Dio<\/a>\u00a0fronted Black Sabbath<\/a> condemned the concept of the \u201csupermarket of salvation\u201d as championed by Bakker and others.<\/p>\n Watch Ozzy Osbourne\u2019s \u2018Miracle Man\u2019 Video<\/strong><\/p>\n Watch Genesis\u2019 \u2018Jesus He Knows Me\u2019 Video<\/strong><\/p>\n Watch Iron Maiden\u2019s \u2018Holy Smoke\u2019 Video<\/strong><\/p>\n Watch Black Sabbath\u2019s \u2018TV Crimes\u2019 Video<\/strong><\/p>\n Other musical critiques of Bakker include The Mavericks\u2019 \u201cThe End of the Line (Jim Bakker), \u201cThe Story of Jim (Bakker)\u201d by musical comedian Sam Kinison and \u201cJim Bakker\u201d by Jeremy Messersmith.<\/p>\n Bakker\u00a0was released from prison in 1995, having served five years, and in 2003 returned to televanglelism, denouncing his criminal ways and pursuing a form of doomsday preparation, selling products to survivalists.<\/p>\nWho Else Wrote Songs About Jim Bakker?<\/h3>\n
Top 30 American Classic Rock Bands of the ’90s<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n