I SAW THE LIGHT: CELEBS WHO LEFT THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY BEHIND FOR JESUS

MASE

I had the biggest crush on Mase after that Harlem World album came out in 1997. Who didn’t? But by 1999, Mase was having a change of heart about the whole rap thing. After releasing his sophomore album, Double Up, Mase revealed to Funkmaster Flex that he was retiring from the rap game to pursue a calling from God. He went on to become a pastor, and did that until 2012 as pastor and founder of El Elyon International Church and Mason Betha Ministries. Once he decided to return to rap, he says he realized that he might have jumped the gun trying to be a pastor so soon, but his faith is still strong:

“I didn’t give myself any room to grow, I went from one extreme to another extreme, I was just so gung ho about what I was learning, that’s all I wanted.”I went so hard in one direction that people had things to say and rightfully so,” Betha told Flex. “I don’t blame them for that [but] it’s been 13 years, let’s move on.”

VANITY

Remember Vanity? Before there was Apollonia, Prince’s female protege was the s*xy lead singer of the group the Purple One formed called Vanity 6 (three women, six boobs, hence the “6”). The group was behind hits like “Nasty Girl” and their performances were quite raunchy. Vanity was supposed to have the lead role alongside Prince in Purple Rain, but left it all behind, and left Prince’s camp in general to focus on solo music and acting. Eventually, Vanity became addicted to crack cocaine in the late ’80s, and after almost dying from from the effects of years worth of drug use, Vanity became a born-again Christian, and went back to being known as Denise Matthews. “With the devil breathing down my neck, trying desperately to snatch and strangle me for hell, I repented.” She has since become an evangelist.

MONTELL JORDAN

He’ll forever be known as the guy behind the jam, “This Is How We Do It,” but Montell Jordan wants to be known more these days for his work for Christ. In 2010, Jordan planned to put out new music, but it was shelved, so he found himself trying to reconnect with his faith alongside his wife, Kristin, and their kids. They joined Victory World Church in Atlanta and his life hasn’t been the same since. “The Lord spoke to me and said ‘you got to retire, you got to lay that life down.” Jordan became the Worship Minister at Victory World Church and along with Victory World Music, has released a gospel album called Shake Heaven.

PEBBLES

After years of being known as the “Mercedes Boy” and “Girlfriend” singer (and as the rumors go, stiffing folks out of their money), Perri “Pebbles” Reid left the music industry behind to focus on God. She became Sister Perri and started a deliverance women’s ministry in Atlanta, deciding to do so in ’97 after she says the hand of God touched her life and changed her direction during a really tough time. She started the Perri Ministry because God told her she could change lives:

“He told me through this ministry that millions will be delivered and set free. Through the power of the Holy Ghost, they will be delivered from alcohol, drug addictions and abusive relationships.”

DONNA SUMMER

The late “Hot Stuff” and “Bad Girls” singer became a born-again Christian at the height of her popularity. She wanted to stop singing a lot of the sexually charged music she became popular for, but was afraid she would lose her fans.

“If I have to perform those songs, it’s part of the weight I have to carry because of the wrong I’ve done. I have to acknowledge that I built this bed and I’ve gotta lay in it. There will come a time when I won’t have to ever do those things again. But it’s like the old remnants that you still have to clear out of your house. You can’t clean your house in one day so I’m going about it methodically.

I think that if I were to do an about-face and do spiritual songs, I would lose contact with all those people that would buy my records. I feel like I’m doing what I have to do.”

MICHELLE WILLIAMS

No, Michelle Williams never disappeared from music, but she changed her musical direction during the height of her career to give love to God by releasing the gospel album, Heart To Yours:

“Some people will do gospel when their career fails, but I chose to do it at the height of the popularity of Destiny’s Child. And I didn’t want to do it because it was a fad. I wanted to do it because it’s in me. It’s in my heart.”

PRINCE

After years of singing classic but raunch-er-rific songs like “Head,” “Soft and Wet” and “Gett Off,” it’s a rarity that you’ll find the Purple One singing these particular songs live these days. Even some songs from his landmark album Purple Rain (think of “Darling Nikki”) aren’t really his thing to perform like that anymore. Why? Because Prince became a born-again and devout Jehovah’s Witness in 2001 and decided to leave his sexually charged hits behind. However, Prince has quite the catalog outside of such tracks to keep fans entertained.