Stryper

Group

Stryper

From
Orange County, United States
Since
1983–present
Rating
★ 3.35 (3 votes)
Releases
42
  • christian metal
  • heavy metal
  • christian rock
  • glam metal
  • hard rock
  • glam
  • metal

About

Stryper is an American heavy metal band, recognized as the first with overtly Christian lyrics to gain mainstream acceptance. The group's lineup consists of Michael Sweet (lead vocals, guitar), Oz Fox (guitar, backing vocals), Perry Richardson (bass, backing vocals), and Robert Sweet (drums).

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Formed in 1981 as Roxx Regime, the band changed their musical message to reflect their Christian beliefs and became Stryper in 1983. Signing with independent label Enigma Records, they released their debut extended play, The Yellow and Black Attack, in 1984. In the mid-1980s, Stryper enjoyed their most successful period beginning with the release of To Hell with the Devil, which was certified Platinum by the RIAA. Stryper went on to release two more Gold-certified albums before disbanding in 1993.
In 2003, Stryper came out of retirement for a reunion tour and subsequently signed a multi-album contract with Big3 Records in 2005. In 2013, they signed a multi-album deal with Frontiers Records and have since released Second Coming in 2013, which includes 14 re-recorded songs from their first three albums, No More Hell to Pay in 2013, Fallen in 2015, God Damn Evil in 2018, Even the Devil Believes in 2020, The Final Battle in 2022, When We Were Kings, To Hell with the Amps, their first acoustic album, in 2024, The Greatest Gift of All, their first christmas album, in 2025, and Throne of Thorns in 2026.
Over the course of their career, Stryper has placed thirteen albums in the Top 10 of Billboard's Top Christian Albums chart, with five releases peaking at number 2 and one release—Even the Devil Believes—reaching number 1. The band was described by the Los Angeles Times as the best-selling rock band in Orange County from 1984 to 1990, with five albums during that period selling near or above 500,000 copies.

From Stryper on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Members

  • Tim Gaines 1983–2004, 2009–now · original member background vocals, bass guitar
  • Oz Fox 1983–now · original member background vocals, guitar
  • Michael Sweet 1983–now · original member guitar, lead vocals
  • Robert Sweet 1983–now · original member drums (drum set)
  • Kenny Metcalf 1985–1986 · former keyboard
  • Tracy Ferrie 2004–2009 · former bass guitar

Discography

Albums 19
EPs 2
Singles 9
Live 5
Compilations 6
Other 1

Links

Tags

  • christian

Identifiers

ISNI
0000000119402243

Data from MusicBrainz, saved 12 Nov 2026. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, covers from the Cover Art Archive and Apple Music.