A Hymn in a Mosh Pit: John Cooper Answers Critics of Skillet’s ‘Emmanuel’
When a platinum-selling rock band known for its explosive sound takes on one of the church’s most ancient and reverent Advent hymns, it was inevitable that the result would be divisive. Skillet’s powerful, guitar-driven rendition of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” has stormed the charts, claiming the No. 1 spot on both iTunes’ rock and Christmas lists and amassing hundreds of thousands of streams. Yet, alongside this success has come a wave of criticism from some listeners who feel the modern rock treatment is an inappropriate match for the classic hymn. The track has ignited a familiar debate about the boundaries of worship music, pitting traditional reverence against contemporary methods of evangelism.
In a gracious and measured response, Skillet frontman John Cooper directly addressed the controversy, demonstrating a pastoral awareness often absent in such online skirmishes. “I’m not angry or even offended by those who believe my music is somehow satanic,” Cooper told Church Leaders, acknowledging the critics’ perspective. However, he firmly anchored the band’s intention in a core missionary purpose: to spread the gospel to as wide an audience as possible. For Cooper, the driving force behind the arrangement isn’t a desire to desecrate, but a strategic choice to bridge a cultural gap. By meeting listeners in the musical language they understand—the aggressive, passionate sound of rock—Skillet aims to make the timeless message of Emmanuel, “God with us,” resonate in a new and powerful way, turning a chart-topping hit into an unexpected altar call.
