How Did Sandi Patty Change and Surprise Christian Music?

Corey Sipe

Sandi Patty was one of the first Christian music artists I listened to as a child, alongside other Contemporary Christian artists like Stephen Curtis Chapman, Amy Grant, and Michael W. Smith. These musicians not only influenced me but thousands, if not millions, of people, helping them better understand God’s love, grace, healing, and forgiveness.

By the time Patty stopped touring full-time in 2016, she had accomplished a great legacy. Andy Argyrakis reported in CCM Magazine that in over three decades of singing Gospel music, Patty has won over 40 Dove Awards, five Grammys, four Billboard Music Awards, and sold over 12 million albums. Additionally, her website reports she is the “most awarded female vocalist in contemporary Christian music history” and was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2004.

Her life has taught many Christians important lessons in God’s love, moving on, learning from mistakes, grace, and letting God use us even though we are broken people.

What Made Sandi Patty an Innovator in Christian Music?

Sandi Patty became one of the first Christian artists to gain the attention of mainstream audiences. For example, she often appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, then the most important television show in America for determining who was famous or up-and-coming in the entertainment industry.

CCMclassic.com reports that she performed in nearly sold-out mainstream arenas and concert halls at her career's peak. She played, on average, over 200 concerts a year in the late 1980s-early 1990s, with a staff of over 30 managing her career.

How Did Sandi Patty Start Her Music Career?

Patty began singing at a younger age than most: she sang “Jesus Loves Me” at Phoenix First Church of God at only two years old.

According to her biography, Sandi Patty got her big break in 1986, singing “The Star Spangled Banner” during a rededication of the Statue of Liberty.

The Herald reported in 2015 that Patty’s career officially began when she was in college studying to become a teacher and accepted a gig singing backing-up vocals for the Bill Gaither Trio.

“I am grateful for the many opportunities for God has given in my life and for how He has allowed me to spread my wings,” Patty says in her biography. “Singing is my way to tell my story of hope, life, and love.”

What Made Sandi Patty Controversial in Christian Music?

While Patty was an innovator in Christian music, she also experienced the industry’s disapproval when she divorced John Helvering in 1993. Eric Reed wrote in “The Long Road Home” that the reasons for her divorce weren’t initially known outside her small hometown of Anderson. But by 1995, it became public that she had an affair during her marriage with Don Peslis, a backup singer in her act. She married Peslis that year.

Jennifer Mulson reports that the years after Patty’s divorce were difficult. She stopped touring for six years, feeling damaged spiritually, psychologically, and professionally.

After Patty returned to performing, she slowly moved toward sharing her story. Andrew Greer sat down with Patty for an interview with CCM Magazine in 2016, asking her what it was like to be transparent with her story on a public platform. Patty gave this reply:

“For the first ten years of my career this was what was going on in my mind, I just want to be an encouragement to people, so I don’t want to bother them with my stuff. Well, maybe I didn’t even have stuff. Maybe my life was perfect. And my husband was perfect. And my kids were perfect. That’s the Queen Of Denial, right there.
When life came crashing down, that was hard. And yet I began to really understand what freedom looked like. Jesus says, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” If it is a truth about ourselves, and it is ugly, but we speak it out loud … Yup, I had an affair. Yup, I went through a divorce. Yes, my children were really hurt in the process. There’s pain in that, but there’s also a lot of freedom, because shame is what keeps you silent. Freedom can come when you speak it out loud.
Now, there are consequences that still have to play themselves out. I’ve had to learn forgiveness is not the same as consequences. God’s forgiveness is there, and He is all in forgiveness with me, but there are still consequences.
I began to understand the freedom that comes with telling my story because I heard other people be brave and tell their story. And I thought, Thank goodness, I’m not the only one. It made me feel a lot more brave.”

How Did Sandy Patty Recover After Her Crisis?

Patty describes her healing journey in her book Broken in the Back Row. In an interview with Dan Wooding, she described a key moment in that journey, visiting North Anderson Church of God in Indiana. While sitting in the back row to avoid being seen, she heard the pastor say, “If you have been visiting with us here today we are so glad that you have come and if you want to tell someone your name, that’s fine, we just want to know it, but if you just want to sit on the back row of the balcony today and just cry, we want you to do it; that this is a place of healing for you.” Patty described that moment as the one “that really began a wonderful journey through grace and forgiveness for me.”

At that point, Patty was at a crossroads. “I was going through a divorce and I was coming to grips with some decisions, choices I had made in my life. I had had an affair and I was going down a not so good path. I really needed to get things right; as right as you can be. Sometimes there are choices that you still feel consequences many years after, but you can always start. I guess that was one reason that I wanted to write this book. Wherever, you are in your journey, you can always start today to make things right. . . . It was the lowest place in my life. I was tired of playing damage control, wondering if somebody was going to find out. I said to myself “If I don’t ever sing another record. I just have to be right and clean before you Lord.”

The years after this low point included much healing. Patty and Peslis settled in Oklahoma City. They adopted a son named Sam, giving Patty a total of eight children—four from her first marriage and Peslis’ three children from a previous marriage. Speaking to Pat Gilliland of The Oklahoman in 2000, Patty described prioritizing that family time: “I try to be gone just a couple of weekends a month . . . We try to be real strategic about when I have to be gone.” The balancing act allowed Patty to begin touring again, both nationally and locally.

What Can We Learn from Sandi Patty Today?

We can learn from Sandi Patty that none of us are perfect. Sometimes, we put Christian artists and famous pastors on a pedestal and get shocked when we find out they are sinners, just like us. This may have been especially true for Patty and other early members of contemporary Christian Music. While divorce was shocking for a Christian celebrity at the time, this is less true today.

Unfortunately, not all of Patty’s fans were forgiving. In the interview with Reed, Patty recalled, “I got so many letters in that period. Some said we’re praying for you, and some were very hurt and very angry. I wrote everyone back, but I paid special attention to those that were hurt and angry and said, ‘Thank you for bringing this to me, rather than just talking about it with someone else.’

“I got many letters back from those I wrote to saying, ‘Forgive me for lashing out. I still feel the same way, but I could have said it a lot more lovingly.’

“I understand that I let [my fans] down. Those things are very hard to work through, and I don't expect everybody to be able to work through it."

HuffPost contributor Dustin Fitzharris notes that “the church and many of her fans felt betrayed by her choices, but no one was harder on Patty than Patty herself. ‘We're all broken,’ she said. ‘Our journey is not a stopwatch; it's a compass. My goal is to always be the best Christ follower that I can be.’”

Whatever standards we hold Christian celebrities to follow, we remember we are to give others grace and forgive them for their sins. We must also remember it takes a lot of strength for celebrities to make public confessions.

We may especially need to be aware of the need to give people grace when divorce and remarriage are involved. Not all Christians find divorce such a huge stigma today, but we do often give our harshest judgment for marital problems. Perhaps we should all question our expectations and whether we are called to provide support or rebuke. I remember a saying from my church: churches should be more like hospitals and less like museums. Like many churches, it provides help for those struggling—Divorce Care, Grief Care, and Celebrate Recovery to help those dealing with loss, divorce, alcoholism, drugs, and much more.

As Patty reminds us, healing comes with admitting our flaws and seeking healing. In her interview with Gilliland, she reflects, “There’s something humiliating and freeing all at the same time, you know, about everybody knowing kind of the worst about you . . . You know, it does kind of make you relax and go, ‘you know what, I’m not going to worry whether they think I should get my hair cut or not.’ You know, it’s just kind of made me a little freer, and the freedom to be a little real.”

10 Best Sandi Patty Albums

Sandi Patty has released over 30 albums throughout her career. Bestsellingalbums.org reports her eight bestselling albums are:

1. Morning Like This, which includes early Jesus rock band 2nd Chapter of Acts providing guest vocals. Its best-known songs are “Let There Be Praise” and “Hosanna.”