The Lord's Prayer (Sister Janet Mead song)

"The Lord's Prayer" is a rock setting of the Lord's Prayer with music by Arnold Strals recorded in 1973 by the Australian nun Sister Janet Mead. Mead was known for pioneering the use of contemporary rock music in celebrating the Roman Catholic Mass and for her weekly radio programs. This recording could be considered one of the links in the development of what would become known as contemporary Christian music.

The recording was produced by Martin Erdman and originally released by Festival Records in Australia. After reaching number three on the charts in Australia, it went on to become an international smash, selling nearly three million copies worldwide and making the upper reaches of the pop charts in territories as diverse as Canada, Japan, Brazil, Germany, and the United States.

In the United States, "The Lord's Prayer", picked up for American distribution by A&M Records (catalog number 1491, b/w "Brother Sun and Sister Moon"). It was certified gold for sales of one million copies. The single entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart on 23 February 1974, charted for thirteen weeks and reached a peak of number four during Holy Week in April. The record also reached number two on the Adult Contemporary singles chart.^[1] It made Sister Janet the first Roman Catholic nun to have a hit record in the United States since Jeanine Deckers, the Singing Nun, hit #1 with "Dominique" in late 1963. It also became the only song to hit the Top 10, whose entire lyrical content originated from the words of the Bible. More specifically, it is the only Top 10 hit whose lyrics were attributed to Jesus Christ.

Mead was nominated for a Grammy for Best Inspirational Performance (although she lost to Elvis Presley's How Great Thou Art) and also became the first Australian artist to sell one million U.S. copies of a record produced in Australia. She donated all of her royalties from the recording's massive international sales to charity, and her record label used their share of the proceeds to build a new state-of-the-art recording studio.

Sister Janet re-recorded "The Lord's Prayer" in 1999 for her comeback album, A Time to Sing.

References

External links

• Sister Janet Mead's Home Page with a message from Sister Janet
• Listen to a preview of The Lord's Prayer plus other songs by Sister Janet and photos
• Sister Janet Mead biography including information on "The Lord's Prayer"