Can Christians listen to secular music? Whether mainstream chart music is OK for people of faith

Musician Jules Rendell shares her experience in the music industry and answers the question, can Christians listen to secular music?

George Michael, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen… 2016 was the year that many those iconic artists died. But the one that hit hardest for me was Prince. "Who’s Prince?" my mum asked, to my horror. Of all the artists I love, it’s Prince’s music inspires me the most, not just the feel-good funk and soul we all know (Kiss, 1999, Raspberry Beret, Purple Rain) but the way he wrote about all kinds of subjects - including God and Christianity. 

I bet you didn’t even know he’d written "The Cross", did you? Why? Because Prince’s hits were about secular life - money, drugs, partying, sex, promiscuity. In an attempt to reacquaint my mum with his back catalogue, my mind went blank. The only hit I could remember was "Gett Off’. To her horror, I sang the main line, “23 positions in a one-night stand…” Aaaargh!