John Cooper of Skillet: "We Were the Last Band That Was Ever Supposed to Get Popular" | Unfolding Short Stories
The Unfolding
Northwestern Media
4.9 • 867 Ratings
🗓️ 6 January 2026
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
John Cooper, frontman for the band Skillet, never set out chasing fame. What mattered most was his foundation in Jesus, established long before the tours, radio hits, or millions of listeners.
As John's career with Skillet began to really take off, his honesty and consistency caught the attention of another musician who was quietly watching. Years later, that same man would give his life to Christ.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | And he came into my bus and I looked him in the face and I said, you look different than you looked. |
| 0:05.7 | Last time I saw him, he said, bro, I finally did it. |
| 0:08.7 | I gave my life to Jesus and I'm a brand new man. |
| 0:11.6 | God's story? |
| 0:13.5 | Your life. |
| 0:16.5 | Unfolding short stories. |
| 0:20.3 | As one year ends and another one begins, a lot of focus is on plans and goals. |
| 0:26.4 | But Jesus gets us thinking about something even more important. |
| 0:30.3 | What are you building your life on? |
| 0:33.0 | For John Cooper, the front man for the band's skillet, that answer shaped every decision that followed. |
| 0:39.3 | Before the tours, before the charts, and the millions of fans, his foundation was already set. |
| 0:45.3 | Today, Skillet's music reaches all around the world. |
| 0:49.3 | But John Cooper's story today starts with a quiet commitment to Jesus that he made long before |
| 0:56.6 | anyone was watching. |
| 0:58.5 | Skillet's story is just very unusual, very strange. We were the last band that was ever |
| 1:06.0 | supposed to get popular in the whole world. We were the last band that anybody would have bet on, including myself. |
| 1:13.9 | I never thought skillet would last very long. I thought it would be five years, six years. |
| 1:19.9 | I assumed I would go into youth ministry after that or something because I love youth. |
| 1:26.1 | And we always just said, okay, I don't know what God's got for us, |
| 1:29.1 | but we're just going to be as faithful as I know how to be during that season. And I do think |
| 1:35.0 | that there were some decisions made up front. And these aren't bragging on skill. This is just, |
| 1:40.6 | we did some things really well and we did some things really not well. And some of the things I think |
... |
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