Jim Bakker, the televangelist who inspired Ozzy Osbourne's Miracle Man Genesis's Jesus He Knows Me and Iron Maiden's Holy Smoke, has died at the age of 86. The news was confirmed in a social media post by Bakker's wife, Lori.
"It is with a broken heart that I share that my beloved husband, Jim Bakker, went home to be with the Lord this evening," she wrote. "For 66 years, Jim gave his life to preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was a pioneer of Christian television, but to me, he was my husband, my best friend, and the man I was honoured to walk beside through so many seasons of life and ministry."
Bakker rose to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s alongside his first wife, Tammy Faye, as hosts of The PTL Club, a late-night Christian televangelist chat show (the 'PTL' was short for 'Praise The Lord') broadcast from the couple's 2500-acre theme park in Fort Mill, South Carolina.
The show attracted millions of viewers and millions of dollars in contributions, but it all came crashing down in the late 1980s when Bakker was accused of sexual misconduct by Jessica Hahn, a church secretary, and imprisoned after being found guilty on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison. On appeal, the sentence was reduced to eight years, and Bakker was released in 1994.
Bakker's antics – alongside those of fellow televangelists Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart and Ernest Angley – were the inspiration for Genesis's 1992 single Jesus He Knows Me, a song featuring lyrics which addressed televangelist hypocrisy directly.
I 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
Do you believe in God?
'Cause that's what I'm selling
And if you wanna go to heaven
Well, I'll see you right
Ghost later covered Jesus He Knows Me on their 2023 EP Phantomime, while other songs to address televangelist behaviour include Ozzy Osbourne's Miracle Man, Iron Maiden's Holy Smoke, Poison's Something To Believe In, Frank Zappa's Jesus Thinks You're a Jerk, The Hooters' Satellite and Black Sabbath's TV Crimes.
In 1987, Tammy Faye Bakker – who'd already recorded several albums of Christian pop music – released The Ballad Of Jim & Tammy, a song that addressed the collapse of their ministry and criticised Swaggart and Falwell for turning on them. Tammy Faye died in 2007.
