Skillet frontman John Cooper says the band never needed to choose between playing hard rock and speaking plainly about the Christian faith.
“I just want to sing rock songs and I want to sing about my faith,” Cooper said during an interview released Sept. 8 on the “Tomi Lahren Is Fearless” podcast.
Cooper, the lead vocalist, bassist and co-founder of Skillet, explained that early industry conversations treated the identities of Christian band and rock band as competing choices. He said he rejected that split because the band’s music could carry both the energy of rock and the convictions that shaped his life.
“I think that people respond to authenticity,” Cooper said, describing the principle that has guided Skillet through nearly three decades of music. The band’s public identity has stayed consistent even as its audience has expanded beyond the Christian music market, a history documented by AllMusic’s biography of Skillet.
Cooper said that he spent the first 24 years of his career avoiding public political commentary, but he felt compelled to speak when he believed free speech and cultural questions had reached a turning point. His broader point was that artists should be honest about what they believe without assuming every listener must agree with them.
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“You can chart your own course,” Cooper said, arguing that social media has weakened the old gatekeeping system in music. Traditional labels, radio and industry executives still matter, he said, but artists can now reach listeners directly when a song connects.
He pointed to “Finish Line,” a song from SKILLET’s 2019 album, as one example. Cooper said that the label did not initially want the song on the record, but fans embraced it and helped turn it into a success through social media.
That connection gives Cooper room to keep faith at the center of his work. He said that listeners who do not share his beliefs may still recognize when an artist means what he sings, and that honesty can create a bridge even when people disagree.
SKILLET’s next chapter arrives with the band’s upcoming EP AFTER THE STORM, which the group’s official website lists for release Oct. 9, 2026. Apple Music lists the project as a six-song pre-release from Hear It Loud.
Cooper described AFTER THE STORM as a hard rock EP that is heavier and more emotionally weighty than some of Skillet’s past work. He connected that emotional weight to the confusion and loneliness many young people experience in a culture shaped by constant online noise.
“The young people are looking for something to live for,” Cooper said. He said young listeners need more than digital connections and argued that music can help people name what they are feeling while pointing them toward hope.
Cooper’s view of music also echoes comments he made in a recent Fox News Digital interview, where he said music itself does not carry inherent evil and that artists are responsible for how they use their creative gifts. That perspective lets him engage rock music without surrendering discernment: the sound may be loud, but the message still matters.
For Christian families, Cooper’s approach offers a straightforward picture of cultural engagement. Skillet does not hide its faith to fit the room, and it does not ask listeners to pretend that conviction and creativity belong in separate places. For families, that is a reminder: conviction does not require cultural withdrawal from good stories.
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