Fraud TV Preacher Who Inspired Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden and Genesis Dead at 86

Jim Bakker, one of the leading televangelists of the ‘80s, died of unspecified causes on Oct. 5 at the age of 86.

His career as a TV preacher came to an end in 1989 when he was convicted of defrauding his followers of at least $158 million, including $3.7 million he’d diverted for personal use. He was also the subject of a range of sexual accusations, including the alleged rape of Jessica Hahn, which he denied after paying $279,000 for her silence.

By the time he was sentenced to 45 years in prison – later reduced to eight years – he’d been the subject of various investigations for a decade, but three of them had ended with no action despite evidence against him, leading to suspicions of political influence in his favor.

READ MORE: When Genesis Skewered Televangelism with 'Jesus He Knows Me'

The activities of Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, Pat Robertson, Morris Cerullo, Robert Tilton and others eventually led to a change in broadcasting laws.

Bakker’s headline-making behavior inspired a number of rock musicians to criticize his criminal ways in song. Genesis’ 1991 single “Jesus He Knows Me” was about Bakker and others, featuring the lyrics “I believe in family / With my ever lovin' wife beside me / But she don't know about my girlfriend / Or the man I met last night.”

Iron Maiden had addressed the suspicious activities of televangelists in general in 1990’s “Holy Smoke.” When it was released, Bruce Dickinson said in a statement: “This is about TV preachers and all the various lies they tell… I just had this big image of all those ovens in the death camps with the preachers’ feet sticking out, and holy smoke going up.”

Ozzy Osbourne had expressed similar views in 1988’s “Miracle Man,” which was partly about Bakker and partly about fellow preacher Swaggart (the “Jimmy Reptile” in Maiden’s song) – who by that point had been found out and performed tearful apologies on TV.

“They were always putting my records down and saying I was the Antichrist,” Osbourne later told Uncut, “and it turned out they weren’t so holy after all.”

On 1992 track “TV Crimes” the Ronnie James Dio fronted Black Sabbath condemned the concept of the “supermarket of salvation” as championed by Bakker and others.

Watch Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘Miracle Man’ Video

Watch Genesis’ ‘Jesus He Knows Me’ Video

Watch Iron Maiden’s ‘Holy Smoke’ Video

Watch Black Sabbath’s ‘TV Crimes’ Video

Who Else Wrote Songs About Jim Bakker?

Other musical critiques of Bakker include The Mavericks’ “The End of the Line (Jim Bakker), “The Story of Jim (Bakker)” by musical comedian Sam Kinison and “Jim Bakker” by Jeremy Messersmith.

Bakker was released from prison in 1995, having served five years, and in 2003 returned to televanglelism, denouncing his criminal ways and pursuing a form of doomsday preparation, selling products to survivalists.