He released вЂњSundayвЂ™s on the WayвЂќ in 1983, with the opening lyrics: He was snatched up by Myrrh, however, and started over with the song вЂњLazarus, Come Forth.вЂќ He signed with a new label, Priority, which almost ended his career when it closed within a year and didnвЂ™t release the rights to his recordings. In 1981, Carman started traveling as an opening act for the Bill Gaither Trio. The decision to follow Jesus ended CarmanвЂ™s music career, and he spent the next five years doing odd jobs around Southern California-until he started performing in churches and then got swept up into the booming contemporary Christian music scene. But when he was singing you could feel the presence of God, and it was a whole new ballgame.вЂќ вЂњIt wasnвЂ™t that he was doing anything musically that hadnвЂ™t been done. вЂњI was confronted with the truth and I received it,вЂќ Carman said. He wasnвЂ™t too proud to accept an invitation to go to a music festival at Disneyland, though, and Carman heard the gospel message again at the AndraГ© Crouch show. Carman resisted, later recalling that he believed what they were saying but was just too proud. Nancy and her husband, Joe Magliato, pastor of the Son Light Christian Center, were worried about CarmanвЂ™s salvation and tried to convince him to accept Jesus. He took a break to go visit his sister, also named Nancy, in Orange County, California. In Las Vegas, Carman struggled to break into the music scene or make a name for himself. The young Carman decided to leave town in his green Chevy Vega. In CarmanвЂ™s heightened version of the story, repeated to reporters numerous times over the years, he was doing so well performing in the New Jersey casinos that a talent agent approached him about вЂњrepresenting my interests and helping my career,вЂќ but the agent was linked to the DeCavalcante crime family, which was known for extensive extortion and racketeering in New Jersey. When he turned 20, he decided to try to make it as a lounge act in Las Vegas. вЂњI knew I wanted to,вЂќ Carman recalled, вЂњand once I gave it a try, I loved it.вЂќД¬arman dropped out of high school at 17 and achieved some early success performing Top 40 in Atlantic City. He filled in when a band member failed to show up at a local New Jersey gig. He described his mother Nancy Licciardello as a вЂњchild prodigy on the accordion.вЂќ She gave Carman his love of the stage and his first chances to perform. They could, like Carman himself, be both incredibly earnest and completely tongue-in-cheek in their appreciation of his art.Д¬arman was born in 1956 to a meat cutter and a musician. The singer also had fans who celebrated him as the pinnacle of the weirdness of 1990s youth group culture. вЂњWhen the enemy attacks you, remember heвЂ™s defeated and when we get to heaven youвЂ™ll have the grand opportunity to kick the devilвЂ™s fat butt back into hell.вЂќ I thank God for blessing Carman with the gift of music,вЂќ wrote one Christian on CarmanвЂ™s Facebook wall.ДЄnother described how much his song вЂњSatan, Bite the DustвЂќ meant to her. The singer had many fans who loved him effusively and described how much he had strengthened their faith.

вЂњThis world has lost a light in the darkness, but today Carman saw firsthand the fruit of his labors.вЂќ A little bit of a vanity project Every night fans packed out venues, and his ministry was as powerful as it ever was,вЂќ Matt Felts, CarmanвЂ™s manager, said in tribute. вЂњWhen Carman resumed touring again a few years ago, he was concerned that no one would care that he was back. In 2013, 30 years after his first hit and on the heels of his cancer diagnosis, his fans raised $280,000 for him to go on a 60-city tour.

He was nominated for four Grammys, named BillboardвЂ™s Contemporary Christian Artist of the Year in 19, and sold more than 10 million albums. It lets people know there is joy in being Christian.вЂќД¬arman, born Carmelo Domenic Licciardello and raised the youngest of three children in an Italian American family in Trenton, New Jersey, won seven Dove Awards. вЂњI think an artist owes it to his audience to thrill them and impress them. вЂњThe music is the best means I have of reaching the most people in the quickest way to win them to Christ,вЂќ Carman said. Carman? But if CarmanвЂ™s star never quite secured its place at the zenith of American fame, he never let that dim his belief in his own celebrity, the awesome power of the concert-show-crusade-event, and his commitment to producing a pop spectacle for Jesus. Carman.ДЇor those who didnвЂ™t know him, the single name was repeated as a question. He was a one-name celebrity, and for those who knew him, the Christian singer and showman ranked in the highest echelons of American stardom, up there with the other mononymous divas: Madonna. After a 40-year career in Christian music, Carman died in Las Vegas Tuesday night due to complications from surgery.

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