Larry Norman#Plane accident (1978)

Larry Norman was born in Corpus Christi, Texas,{{Cite web |title=Births in Nueces County, Texas (1947) |url=http://files.usgwarchives.net/tx/nueces/vitals/births/1947/nueb0747.txt |website=USGW Archives.net}} {{dead link |date=November 2014}} the oldest son of Joe Hendrex "Joe Billy" Norman (December 9, 1923 – April 28, 1999),Social Security Death Index: Born: December 9, 1923, Died: April 28, 1999; Name: Joe Hendrex Norman Service Info.: SGT US ARMY AIR CORPS WORLD WAR II Birth Date: December 10, 1923, Death Date: April 28, 1999 and his wife, Margaret Evelyn "Marge" Stout (born in 1925 in Nebraska).{{Cite book |last=Norman |first=Larry |title=The Long Road Home |date=2007 |publisher=Solid Rock |location=Salem, Oregon}}{{Cite news |last=Quillen |first=Shay |date=February 26, 2008 |title=Obituary: Father of Christian Rock: Musician Larry Norman, 60 |work=The Mercury News |url=http://www.religionnewsblog.com/20766/larry-norman-2 |access-date=February 15, 2009}} Joe Norman had served as a sergeant in the US Army Air Corps during World War IIJoe H. Norman, enlisted on October 24, 1942, at San Antonio, Texas. See National Archives and Records Administration. US World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938–1946 ; Source Information: National Cemetery Administration. US Veterans Gravesites, ca.1775–2006 and worked at the Southern Pacific Railroad"Larry Norman Down Under But Not Out", On Being (1985/1986):4. while studying to become a teacher.{{Cite web |title=Classmates, the letter "N" |url=http://www.lhs68.net/classmates/n.html |access-date=August 13, 2010 |website=Lhs68.net}} After Norman's birth, the family joined the Southern Baptist church.Larry Norman, liner notes, The Cottage Tapes – Book One (1999):8; but cf. "Larry Norman Down Under But Not Out", On Being (1985/1986):4, which suggests it was soon before his birth. In 1950 the family moved to San Francisco, where they attended an African American Pentecostal church and then a Baptist church, where Norman became a Christian at the age of five.{{Cite book |last1=Barnet |first1=Richard D. |title=The Story Behind the Song: 150 Songs that Chronicle the 20th Century |last2=Nemerov |first2=Bruce |last3=Taylor |first3=Mayo R. |date=2004 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-31331-976-1 |location=Westport |page=206}}{{Cite web |last=Flemming |first=Allen |date=February 24, 2010 |title=On The Second Anniversary Of Larry Norman In Another Land |url=http://www.larrynorman.com/see.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019123720/http://www.larrynorman.com/see.html |archive-date=October 19, 2014 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Larry Norman.com}}{{Cite web |last=Norman |first=Larry |year=1979 |title=Foreword to Contemporary Christian Music |url=http://twoln.clutteredsoul.com/foreword79.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122150036/http://twoln.clutteredsoul.com/foreword79.html |archive-date=November 22, 2018 |access-date=January 3, 2019 |website=Cluttered Soul: The Words of Larry Norman}} In 1959, Norman performed on the syndicated television show The Original Amateur Hour."Larry Norman Down Under But Not Out", On Being (1985/1986).

In 1960, Norman's father began teaching in San Jose, California; the family lived in nearby Campbell.{{Cite web |last=Tokunaga |first=Paul |date=February 26, 2008 |title=Remembering Larry Norman |url=http://behindthebooks.ivpress.com/2008/02/remembering_larry_norman.php |access-date=September 28, 2011 |website=Behindthebooks.ivpress.com}} Norman graduated from Campbell High School in 1965{{Cite web |title=Larry David Norman - Campbell High School (Campbell, California, United States) |url=http://namesdatabase.com/people/NORMAN/LARRY%20DAVID/10253862 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714153433/http://namesdatabase.com/people/NORMAN/LARRY%20DAVID/10253862 |archive-date=July 14, 2011 |access-date=November 26, 2014 |website=NamesDatabase}}{{Cite web |title=Campbell, California: Campbell High School Alumni List |url=http://namesdatabase.com/schools/US/CA/Campbell/Campbell%20High%20School |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303213213/http://namesdatabase.com/schools/US/CA/Campbell/Campbell%20High%20School |archive-date=March 3, 2012 |access-date=November 26, 2014 |website=NamesDatabase}}{{Cite web |last=Peters |first=Randy |date=February 19, 1999 |title=Terry Scott Taylor TimeLine |url=http://www.danielamos.com/articles/1timeline.html |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Daniel Amos}} and won an academic scholarship to major in English at San José State University."Larry Norman Down Under But Not Out", On Being (1985/1986):6. After one semester, Norman "flunked out of college and lost [his] scholarship."{{Cite news |date=March 7, 2008 |title=Larry Norman: Musician who was known as 'the father of Christian rock' |work=The Times |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3506298.ece |url-status=dead |access-date=October 5, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013085139/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3506298.ece |archive-date=October 13, 2008}}

Although Norman was able to play a variety of musical instruments, he never learned to read or write musical notation.Larry Norman, "A Special Solid Rock Interview", in The Blue Book (1986):10, released in 1989 with Home At Last album.

While still in high school, Norman formed a group called The Back Country Seven, which included his sister Nancy Jo and friend Gene Mason. After graduating, Norman continued performing locally.

In 1966 Norman opened a concert for People! at the Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, California. He later became the band's principal songwriter, sharing lead vocals with his Back Country Seven bandmate Gene Mason.{{Cite web |title=Vital Statistics |url=http://www.meetjesushere.com/images/Pictures/PeopleBio4.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324105426/http://www.meetjesushere.com/images/Pictures/PeopleBio4.jpg |archive-date=March 24, 2016 |access-date=November 26, 2014 |website=Jim Böthel's Unofficial Larry Norman Website |format=JPG}} People! performed about 200 concerts a year,Larry Norman, "Liner Notes", I Love You Korea, p.2. appearing with Van Morrison and Them, the Animals, the Dave Clark Five, Paul Revere & the Raiders, the Doors, the Who, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Moby Grape, and San Jose bands Syndicate of Sound and Count Five.{{Cite web |year=2010 |title=Wayback Wednesday - The People! |url=http://mog.com/DashboardDJ856/blog/1928285 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305162106/http://mog.com/DashboardDJ856/blog/1928285 |archive-date=March 5, 2012 |website=MOG}} The band's cover of the Zombies' "I Love You" became a hit single, selling over one million copies and charting strongly in several markets.{{Cite magazine |title=Cash Box Top 100 Singles Week ending June 29, 1968 |url=http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/19680629.html |url-status=dead |magazine=Cashbox |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130301230738/http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/19680629.html |archive-date=March 1, 2013}} Norman left People! just as Capitol released the band's first album in mid 1968, but reunited with Mason for concerts in 1974 and 2006.{{Cite web |title=People!: Drummer and songwriter Denny Fridkin recounts his life in music |url=http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/music/People_Drummer_and_songwriter_Denny_Fridkin_recounts_his_life_in_music/28810/p1/ |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Cross Rhythms}} According to rock historian Walter Rasmussen, Pete Townshend once said that The Who's 1969 album Tommy was inspired by the rock opera "Epic" by People!;Powell 2002, p. 633-634.Wally Rasmussen, liner notes, "About the Author", Larry Norman: White Blossoms From Black Roots (SRD-030) (1988):4. however, Townshend has since denied the connection.{{Cite web |title=Larry Norman: Not so Long Ago the Garden |url=http://newmusicplease.com/album-reviews/larry-norman-so-long-ago-the-garden.php |access-date=October 21, 2016 |website=New Music Please}}

Soon after Norman left People!, he had "a powerful spiritual encounter that threw him into a frenzy of indecision about his life [and] for the first time in his life, he received what he understood to be the Holy Spirit".Stowe 2011, p. 36-37.

In July 1968, following a job offer to write musicals for Capitol Records, Norman moved to Los Angeles where he "spent time sharing the gospel on the streets".{{Cite web |title=Larry Norman |url=http://www.cbn.com/cbnmusic/artists/norman_larry.aspx |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Christian Broadcasting Network}}{{Cite web |last=Cooney |first=Philip |date=January 30, 2008 |title=Here I am, talking about Jesus just the same: Larry Norman at 60 |url=http://www.matthiasmedia.com.au/briefing/longing/5087/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720083535/http://matthiasmedia.com.au/briefing/longing/5087/ |archive-date=July 20, 2008 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=The Briefing}} As he described in 2006: "I walked up and down Hollywood Boulevard several times a day ... witnessing to businessmen and hippies, and to whomever the Spirit led me. I spent all of my Capitol Records' royalties starting a halfway house and buying clothes and food for new converts."{{Cite web |last=Norman |first=Larry |date=October 11, 2006 |title=Larry Norman: The Growth Of The Christian Music Industry |url=http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/music/Larry_Norman__The_Growth_Of_The_Christian_Music_Industry/24341/p2/ |website=Cross Rhythms}}{{Cite book |last=Kittle |first=Glenn D. |title=The Jesus Kids and their Leaders |date=1972 |publisher=Warner Paperback Library |page=121}} He was initially associated with the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood,{{Cite news |last=Luddick |first=Betty |date=July 11, 1972 |title=Jeane Dixon's Crystal Ball Gets a Workout |page=G1 |work=Los Angeles Times}} and its Salt Company coffee house outreach ministry,{{Cite web |last=Norman |first=Larry |title=The Jesus Movement - Singing A New Song |url=http://www.one-way.org/lovesong/norman.htm |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=One-Way.org}}{{Cite web |date=October 21, 1969 |title=Can You Dig It? |url=http://www.hollywoodfreepaper.org/archive.php?id=3 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |volume=1 |number=2 |newspaper=The Hollywood Free Paper}} where he explored and pioneered the rock-gospel genre.{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Don |title=Call to the Streets: The Story of Don Williams |date=1972 |publisher=Augsburg Publishing House |location=Minneapolis, MN |page=23}}

In 1968 Norman wrote several songs for the rock musicals Alison and Birthday for Shakespeare, both of which were performed in Los Angeles.{{Cite magazine |last=Tiegel |first=Elliot |date=November 23, 1968 |title=Cap. in New B'way Try via Beechwood |magazine=Billboard |page=8}}{{Cite web |title=Songwriter/Composer: Norman Larry David |url=http://repertoire.bmi.com/writer.asp?fromrow=1&torow=25&keyname=NORMAN%20LARRY%20DAVID&querytype=WriterID&keyid=251231&page=1&blnWriter=True&blnPublisher=True&blnArtist=True&affiliation=BMI&cae=214063413 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904095059/http://repertoire.bmi.com/writer.asp?fromrow=1&torow=25&keyname=NORMAN%20LARRY%20DAVID&querytype=WriterID&keyid=251231&page=1&blnWriter=True&blnPublisher=True&blnArtist=True&affiliation=BMI&cae=214063413 |archive-date=September 4, 2015 |access-date=November 26, 2014 |website=Broadcast Music, Inc.}}Norman 1972, p. 9.11 songs from Birthday for Shakespeare are included on Norman's 2007 album Motorola Corolla 2.{{Cite web |title=Review: Motorola Corolla 2 - Larry Norman |url=http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/products/Larry_Norman/Motorola_Corolla_2/46235/ |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Cross Rhythms}}Norman 1972, p. 10.

The next year, Norman and his friend Teddy Neeley auditioned for the Los Angeles production of the rock musical Hair and were offered the roles of George Berger and Claude Bukowski, respectively; Neeley accepted, but Norman rejected the role of George, despite his own financial struggles, because "of its glorification of drugs and free sex as the answers to today's problems".{{Cite web |title=Bootleg : A Documentary : Larry Norman |url=http://www.meetjesushere.com/images/btlginsa.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304094443/http://www.meetjesushere.com/images/btlginsa.jpg |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |access-date=November 26, 2014 |website=Jim Böthel's Unofficial Larry Norman Website |format=JPG}}{{Cite web |title=Ted Neeley biography notes |url=http://www.cverbelun.addr.com/neeley.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511194408/http://www.cverbelun.addr.com/neeley.htm |archive-date=May 11, 2011 |access-date=June 7, 2011 |website=Cindy Verbelun}} Also in 1969, Norman wrote a musical called Love on Haight Street and a rock opera called Lion's Breath, which led Capitol to re-sign Norman to record an album, with the promise of complete creative control.Shaw, Paul, "About the Artist", So Long Ago the Garden (30th Anniversary Edition 1973–2003), SRD-006.{{Cite web |title=The Mystery Records |url=http://www.meetjesushere.com/the_mystery_records.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020114342/http://www.meetjesushere.com/the_mystery_records.htm |archive-date=October 20, 2014 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Jim Böthel's Unofficial Larry Norman Website}}"About the Artist", Only Visiting This Planet (2004).

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In 1969, Capitol Records released Norman's first solo album, Upon This Rock, produced by Hal Yoergler, is now considered to be "the first full-blown Christian rock album".Thompson 2000, p. 49-52. Norman was denounced by various television evangelists,{{Cite book |last=Bivins |first=Jason |title=Religion of Fear: The Politics of Horror in Conservative Evangelicalism |date=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=125}}{{Cite book |last=Luhr |first=Eileen |title=Witnessing Suburbia: Conservatives and Christian Youth Culture |date=2009 |publisher=University of California Press |pages=47, 51–52}} and Capitol deemed the album a commercial flop and dropped Norman from the label.{{Cite web |date=January 10, 2009 |title=Solid Rock Album Discography |url=http://www.bsnpubs.com/word/solidrock/solidrock.html |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Both Sides Now}} However, his music gained a large following in the emerging countercultural movements.High Fidelity 20:7–12 (1970):112. Sales of the album rose following its distribution in Christian bookstores.{{Cite book |last=Bielen |first=Kenneth G. |title=The Lyrics of Civility: Biblical Images and Popular Music Lyrics in American Culture |date=1999 |publisher=Routledge |page=114}}

By the early 1970s, Norman was performing frequently for large audiences, and appeared at several Christian music festivals,{{Cite web |title=Larry Norman 1947-2008 |url=http://www.larrynorman.uk.com/tributes.htm |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Larry Norman UK}}{{Cite magazine |title=Duane's Interview with Josh Tinley |url=http://www.hollywoodfreepaper.org/interview.php?id=3 |magazine=The Hollywood Free Paper |access-date=October 5, 2014}}{{Cite magazine |title=Reflections on the Jesus Movement |url=http://www.hollywoodfreepaper.org/article.php?id=4 |magazine=The Hollywood Free Paper |access-date=October 5, 2014}}{{Cite book |last=Robison |first=Greg |url=https://archive.org/details/christianrockfes00robi |title=Christian Rock Festivals |date=2009 |publisher=Rosen |location=New York |isbn=9781404217843 |url-access=registration}}{{Cite magazine |date=February 2, 1971 |title=Spiritual Revolution Day |url=http://www.hollywoodfreepaper.org/archive.php?id=33 |magazine=The Hollywood Free Paper |volume=3 |access-date=November 26, 2014 |number=3}} including Explo '72, a six-day Dallas event which has been called the "Jesus Woodstock."{{Cite magazine |date=June 26, 1972 |title=Religion: The Jesus Woodstock |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,906107,00.html |url-status=dead |magazine=Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080616060134/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,906107,00.html |archive-date=June 16, 2008 |access-date=October 5, 2014}} Norman established a half-way house where he "housed and fed various groups of people, supervised their Bible studies and drove them to church on Fridays and Sundays".Larry Norman, "The White Cottage", liner notes, And the Rampions Run Wild: The Cottage Tapes – Book Two (2000 CD). He earned $80 per month from Capitol for polishing and refining songs for Capitol artists. In 1970, Norman began a record label, One Way Records. He released two of his own albums Street Level and Bootleg on the label as well as Randy Stonehill's first album, Born Twice.

In 1971, Norman first visited England where he lived and worked for several years.{{Cite web |last=Rimmer |first=Mike |date=August 27, 2005 |title=A Legend Quizzed |url=http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/music/A_Legend_Quizzed/15761/p1/ |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Cross Rhythms}} He recorded two studio albums, Only Visiting This Planet and So Long Ago the Garden, in London's AIR Studios.{{Cite web |title=Larry in the UK |url=http://www.larrynorman.uk.com/inuk.html |access-date=May 4, 2010 |website=Larry Norman UK}} {{dead link |date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Released in 1972, Visiting "was meant to reach the flower children disillusioned by the government and the church" with its "abrasive, urban reality of the gospel", and has often been ranked as Norman's best album. The release of Garden in November 1973 was met with controversy in the Christian press, due to the album's cover art and some songs in which Norman took the persona of a backslider.{{Cite magazine |last=Turner |first=Steve |date=March 10, 1977 |title=Paradise: Home-made and Heaven |magazine=ThirdWay |page=9}}{{Cite magazine |last=Beaujon |first=Andrew |date=May 2008 |title=God Only Knows |magazine=Spin |page=120}}

In 1974, Norman founded Solid Rock Records to produce records for Christian artists "who didn't want to be consumed by the business of making vinyl pancakes but who wanted to make something 'non-commercial' to the world".{{Cite web |date=September 24, 2007 |title=Larry Norman's snakeskin boots |url=http://talesfromthelaboratory.typepad.com/tales_from_the_microbial_/2007/09/larry-normans-s.html |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Tales from the Microbial Laboratory}}Howard and Streck 2004, p. 163.{{Cite web |title=Shopping Mall |url=http://www.larrynorman.uk.com/store2.htm |access-date=February 5, 2014 |website=Larry Norman UK}}{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Kim |title=Larry Norman Dies at 60 |url=http://christianmusic.about.com/od/musicnews/a/larrynormanobit.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303112431/http://christianmusic.about.com/od/musicnews/a/larrynormanobit.htm |archive-date=March 3, 2012 |access-date=February 5, 2014 |website=About.com}} Norman produced music on the label for artists including Randy Stonehill, Mark Heard and Tom Howard.{{Cite web |title=Tom Howard: From Jesus music pioneer to behind-the-scenes virtuoso |url=http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/music/Tom_Howard_From_Jesus_music_pioneer_to_behindthescenes_virtuoso/34447/p1/ |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Cross Rhythms}} Norman also worked with several artists who were signed to other labels, including Malcolm and Alwyn, Bobby Emmons and the Crosstones, Lyrix, James Sundquist and David Edwards.{{Cite news |date=September 16, 1977 |title=Folk Concert |page=14 |work=Tri-City Herald}}{{Cite web |title=Freedom Flight : Album cover |url=http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aGSj8CksbS8/S7hC6os0nyI/AAAAAAAAAN4/2FPiAw-zNv0/s1600/back.jpg |access-date=November 26, 2014 |website=1.bp.blogspot.com |format=JPG}}{{Cite encyclopedia |year=2002 |title=David Edwards |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music |publisher=Hendrickson |location=Peabody, MA |last=Powell |first=Mark Allan |page=292}} Norman signed a deal with ABC Records to distribute Solid Rock's releases, but was later moved to ABC subsidiary Word Records.{{Cite web |last=Rimmer |first=Mike |date=February 26, 2008 |title=Larry Norman – 1947–2008 |url=http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/news/Larry_Norman__19472008/30703/p1/ |website=Cross Rhythms}}{{Cite web |title=Biography |url=http://www.larrynorman.uk.com/bio.htm |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Larry Norman UK}} In the same year, Norman founded the Christian artist booking agency Street Level Artists Agency.{{Cite web |last=Norman |first=Larry |year=1980 |title=New Music Interview 1980 Part 2 |url=http://twoln.clutteredsoul.com/intvw80b.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122152758/http://twoln.clutteredsoul.com/intvw80b.html |archive-date=November 22, 2018 |access-date=January 3, 2019 |website=Cluttered Soul: The Words of Larry Norman}}{{Cite web |title=Our Agency |url=http://www.streetlevelagency.com/index.php/agency |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714043611/http://www.streetlevelagency.com/index.php/agency |archive-date=July 14, 2011 |publisher=Street Level Agency}}{{Cite web |last=Rimmer |first=Mike |date=March 28, 2010 |title=Larry Norman: The David Di Sabatino's Fallen Angel documentary |url=http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/music/Larry_Norman_The_David_Di_Sabatinos_Fallen_Angel_documentary/39066/ |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Cross Rhythms}}

In Another Land, the third album in Norman's trilogy and the best-selling album of his career, was released in 1976 by Solid Rock and distributed through Word.{{Cite web |last=Norman |first=Larry |year=1980 |title=New Music Interview 1980 Part 3 |url=http://twoln.clutteredsoul.com/intvw80c.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612142328/http://twoln.clutteredsoul.com/intvw80c.html |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |access-date=January 3, 2019 |website=Cluttered Soul: The Words of Larry Norman}}{{Cite web |title=In Another Land |url=http://www.meetjesushere.com/in_another_land.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020162304/http://www.meetjesushere.com/in_another_land.htm |archive-date=October 20, 2014 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Jim Böthel's Unofficial Larry Norman Website}} Soon afterward, Norman recorded the blues-rock concept album Something New under the Son, but it would not be released until 1981.Some sources indicate the album was recorded in 1977. See {{Cite web |last=Norman |first=Larry |year=1981 |title=Solid Rock/Phydeaux: Music for the Minority |url=http://www.meetjesushere.com/images/PosterMag/BostProm.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720090308/http://www.meetjesushere.com/images/PosterMag/BostProm.jpg |archive-date=July 20, 2011 |website=Jim Böthel's Unofficial Larry Norman Website}}; the original cover has "1977" written on it.{{cite web |url=http://www.meetjesushere.com/images/LPs/SRA2007a.jpg |title='Something New Under the Son' Front cover |website=Jim Böthel's Unofficial Larry Norman Website |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720090102/http://www.meetjesushere.com/images/LPs/SRA2007a.jpg |archive-date=July 20, 2011}}{{Cite web |title=Larry Norman (Part 1) |url=http://www.onlyvisiting.com/larry/about/story1.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729055350/http://www.onlyvisiting.com/larry/about/story1.html |archive-date=July 29, 2013 |website=Only Visiting.com}}{{Cite web |title=Something New Under The Son |url=http://www.meetjesushere.com/SNUTS.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141126154628/http://www.meetjesushere.com/SNUTS.htm |archive-date=November 26, 2014 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Jim Böthel's Unofficial Larry Norman Website}} Following clashes with Word over Something New and several other projects, Norman started Phydeaux Records in 1980 to release his albums.{{Cite web |year=1995 |title=VOG interview |url=http://twoln.clutteredsoul.com/intvw95.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008205436/http://twoln.clutteredsoul.com/intvw95.html |archive-date=October 8, 2014 |website=Cluttered Soul: The Words of Larry Norman}}{{Cite web |title=The FULL VOG Interview |url=http://www.onlyvisiting.com/larry/interviews/VOG/larryVOG.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924060539/http://www.onlyvisiting.com/larry/interviews/VOG/larryVOG.html |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Only Visiting.com}}

In 1978, Norman was injured during a plane landing at Los Angeles International Airport. Norman claimed to have suffered mild brain damage due to being hit by parts of the cabin's roof, and that this damage left him unable to complete projects and focus artistically.Larry Norman, "A Special Solid Rock Interview", in Norman 1989, p. 10. William Ayers wrote in 1991: "As family, friends and fans watched, his life spiraled downward. He was unable to record a bonafide album from the time of his airplane accident in 1978 until ... he attempted to release the badly produced Home at Last [recorded in 1986]. He never expected to be healed."

In September 1979, Norman performed his "The Great American Novel", "a Dylanesque protest song", for U.S. president Jimmy Carter and about 1,000 guests at the Old Fashioned Gospel Singin{{'}} concert held on the south lawn of the White House.{{Cite news |date=September 10, 1979 |title=White House Hosts Gospel Sing |page=20 |work=Pharos-Tribune |location=Logansport, Indiana}}

Following a prolonged dispute with Solid Rock artists Daniel Amos which ended in estrangement,{{Cite web |title=Terry Scott Taylor : The HRS Interview Part One |url=http://www.danielamos.com/articles/terrytay1.html |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=DanielAmos.com}}{{Cite web |title=TimeLine 1978 |url=http://www.danielamos.com/timeline78.html |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=DanielAmos.com}} Solid Rock's business manager, Philip Mangano, and several Solid Rock musicians organized an intervention with Norman in June 1980, which led him to begin closing the company.{{Cite web |title=Angel tells tragic tale of Larry Norman |url=http://www.canadianchristianity.com/bc/bccn/0709/20angel.html |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Canadian Christianity.com |archive-date=May 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150517015014/http://canadianchristianity.com/bc/bccn/0709/20angel.html |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |year=1980 |title=Audio sample: Mangano's coup d'etat |url=http://www.weebly.com/uploads/7/0/9/5/7095730/philip_manganos_coup_detat.mp3 |access-date=November 26, 2014 |website=Weebly.com |format=MP3}} Religious history professor Randall Balmer attributed the company's demise to "idealism, marital difficulties, and financial naivete—as well as changing musical tastes."{{Cite encyclopedia |year=2002 |title=Larry (David) Norman |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |editor-last=Balmer |editor-first=Randall Herbert |page=411}}

In late 1980, Norman moved to England and, with his father, founded Phydeaux Records, a company designed to compete with the bootleg market by selling rarities from Norman's own archives.{{Cite web |title=Back to California : Larry Norman |url=http://www.meetjesushere.com/images/LPs/ST001aV1.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312041846/http://www.meetjesushere.com/images/LPs/ST001aV1.jpg |archive-date=March 12, 2016 |access-date=November 26, 2014 |website=Jim Böthel's Unofficial Larry Norman Website |format=JPG}}{{Cite web |title=Larry Norman (Part 2) |url=http://www.onlyvisiting.com/larry/about/story2.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924060530/http://www.onlyvisiting.com/larry/about/story2.html |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Only Visiting.com}}Larry Norman, "The Germans", (June 18, 2007).{{Cite web |title=The Israel Tapes |url=http://www.meetjesushere.com/The_Israel_Tapes.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728204718/http://www.meetjesushere.com/The_Israel_Tapes.htm |archive-date=July 28, 2013 |access-date=February 5, 2014 |website=Jim Böthel's Unofficial Larry Norman Website}} He signed a distribution deal with British label Chapel Lane and released several albums before returning to the United States in 1985.{{Cite web |title=1981 Friends On Tour Dates |url=http://www.larrynorman.uk.com/word27.htm |access-date=March 12, 2011 |website=Larry Norman UK}}{{Cite web |title=Larry Norman And His Friends On Tour |url=http://www.meetjesushere.com/Friends_On_Tour.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150301032602/http://www.meetjesushere.com/Friends_On_Tour.htm |archive-date=March 1, 2015 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Jim Böthel's Unofficial Larry Norman Website}}{{Cite web |title=The Story Of The Tune |url=http://www.meetjesushere.com/Tune.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020113510/http://www.meetjesushere.com/Tune.htm |archive-date=October 20, 2014 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Jim Böthel's Unofficial Larry Norman Website}}{{Cite web |title=The Story Of The Tune: Cover |url=http://www.onlyvisiting.com/music/discography/Tune/tune.cover.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924060549/http://www.onlyvisiting.com/music/discography/Tune/tune.cover.html |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Only Visiting.com}}{{Cite web |title=Come As A Child |url=http://www.meetjesushere.com/Come_As_A_Child.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728182547/http://www.meetjesushere.com/Come_As_A_Child.htm |archive-date=July 28, 2013 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Jim Böthel's Unofficial Larry Norman Website}}{{Cite web |title=Stop This Flight |url=http://www.meetjesushere.com/STF.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150301030108/http://www.meetjesushere.com/STF.htm |archive-date=March 1, 2015 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Jim Böthel's Unofficial Larry Norman Website}}{{Cite web |title=Quiet Night |url=http://www.meetjesushere.com/QuietNight.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728202714/http://www.meetjesushere.com/QuietNight.htm |archive-date=July 28, 2013 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Jim Böthel's Unofficial Larry Norman Website}} Norman then began work on an anthology project celebrating his career in Christian music, beginning with the album White Blossoms from Black Roots: The History and the Chronology: Volume One;Liner Notes, White Blossoms From Black Roots (1997).{{Cite web |title=Solid Rock News |url=http://www.larrynorman.com/news/3.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728175037/http://www.larrynorman.com/news/3.html |archive-date=July 28, 2013 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Larry Norman.com}} however, the project collapsed when the head of the distribution company was arrested for check forgery and the company's merchandise was seized by the FBI.{{Cite web |title=White Blossoms From Black Roots |url=http://www.meetjesushere.com/White_Blossoms.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921063829/http://www.meetjesushere.com/White_Blossoms.htm |archive-date=September 21, 2015 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Jim Böthel's Unofficial Larry Norman Website}}

Norman signed to Benson Records in 1986 and recorded the album Home at Last, although the album was not released until 1989 due to legal problems.{{Cite magazine |last=McCormack |first=Moira |date=October 11, 1986 |title=Benson Records: Economy and Specialization Fuel Strong Return to Major Label Status |magazine=Billboard |page=G-10}}Norman 1989, p. 20. Despite extensive promotion, the album was negatively reviewed, and Norman himself later dismissed the album as "just a collection of tapes I had", although he said separately that he was "extremely happy" with the level of support he'd received from Benson.Matthew Dickerson, "Home at Last", in Norman 1989, p. 16.{{Cite web |last=Norman |first=Larry |year=1993 |title=Cross Rhythms Interview |url=http://twoln.clutteredsoul.com/intvw93.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304093025/http://twoln.clutteredsoul.com/intvw93.html |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |access-date=January 3, 2019 |website=Cluttered Soul: The Words of Larry Norman}} In 1989, Norman received the Christian Artists' Society Lifetime Achievement Award.

While visiting another musician at the close of a February 1991 tour, Norman received prayer for his long-term health problems from a pastor of London's Elim Way Fellowship.{{Cite web |date=September 10, 2008 |title=History |url=http://riverchurch.publishpath.com/history |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715131313/http://riverchurch.publishpath.com/history |archive-date=July 15, 2011 |access-date=August 13, 2010 |website=River Church}} Norman maintained that through this prayer God repaired the damage to his brain and he was able to function again. That year, he collaborated with his brother Charles on the album Stranded in Babylon, hailed by both critics and fans as one of his best.{{Cite web |title=Stranded In Babylon |url=http://www.meetjesushere.com/stranded_in_babylon.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020214628/http://www.meetjesushere.com/stranded_in_babylon.htm |archive-date=October 20, 2014 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Jim Böthel's Unofficial Larry Norman Website}}{{Cite web |title=Review: Stranded In Babylon - Larry Norman |url=http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/products/Larry_Norman/Stranded_In_Babylon/5267/ |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Cross Rhythms}}{{Cite web |title=Selected discography from my personal collection: Larry Norman |url=http://www.banophernalia.com/reviews/music/artists_norman.htm#larry1999 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728170136/http://www.banophernalia.com/reviews/music/artists_norman.htm#larry1999 |archive-date=July 28, 2013 |website=Banophernalia.com}} They would reunite for the 2001 album Tourniquet.{{Cite web |title=Larry Norman Tourniquet pre-release review copy album front and back |url=http://www.meetjesushere.com/images/CDs/SRD409insV1.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324114039/http://www.meetjesushere.com/images/CDs/SRD409insV1.jpg |archive-date=March 24, 2012 |access-date=June 7, 2011 |website=Jim Böthel's Unofficial Larry Norman Website}}{{Cite web |title=Tourniquet |url=http://www.meetjesushere.com/tourniquet.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019005530/http://www.meetjesushere.com/tourniquet.htm |archive-date=October 19, 2014 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Jim Böthel's Unofficial Larry Norman Website}}

Norman continued to perform and release albums throughout his later years in order to raise funds for medical expenses stemming from heart problems.{{Cite web |title=Phydeaux News 1 |url=http://www.onlyvisiting.com/distributors/phydeaux/newsletters/phydeaux_1.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729040019/http://www.onlyvisiting.com/distributors/phydeaux/newsletters/phydeaux_1.html |archive-date=July 29, 2013 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Only Visiting.com}}{{Cite web |title=Review: Agitator: The Essential - Larry Norman |url=http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/products/Larry_Norman/Agitator_The_Essential/7087/ |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Cross Rhythms}} He gave his last official concert on August 4, 2007, in New York City.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}

Throughout his career, Norman had a contentious relationship with the wider Christian church and with the Christian music industry. He wrote in September 2007, "I love God and I follow Jesus but I just don't have much affinity for the organized folderol of the churches in the Western World."Larry Norman, "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?", Liner Notes, Rebel Poet, Jukebox Balladeer: The Anthology (September 2007). Norman's music addressed a wide range of social issues, such as politics, free love, the occult, the passive commercialism of wartime journalists, and religious hypocrisy, that were outside the scope of his contemporaries.{{Cite web |last=Hagestadt |first=André |title=Larry Norman |url=http://www.kxl.com/ArDisplay.aspx?SecID=13&ID=15847 |website=KXL-FM}} {{dead link |date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Defending the confrontational approach of his music, Norman said, "My primary emphasis is not to entertain. But if your art is boring, people will reject your message as well as your art."Larry Norman, quoted in Marlene D. LeFever, Creative Teaching Methods (David C. Cook, 1996):21. In the 1980s, he complained that Christian music generally meant "sloppy thinking, dishonest metaphors and bad poetry," and that he had "never been able to get over the shock of how bad the lyrics are."{{Cite web |last=Norman |first=Larry |title=Strait Interview 1984 |url=http://twoln.clutteredsoul.com/intvw84.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212125931/http://twoln.clutteredsoul.com/intvw84.html |archive-date=December 12, 2013 |access-date=August 3, 2019 |website=Cluttered Soul: The Words of Larry Norman}}

Norman disapproved of Christian musicians who were unwilling to play in secular venues or to "preach" between songs.{{Cite web |last=Spencer |first=Michael |title=So Long Ago, When CCM Wasn't Awful |url=http://www.internetmonk.com/articles/L/larry.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730141413/http://www.internetmonk.com/articles/L/larry.html |archive-date=July 30, 2013 |website=The Internet Monk}} He also criticized what he saw as the "commercialization of Christian music in America", including the role of copyrights and licensing.

In 2008, Christian rock historian John J. Thompson wrote, "It is certainly no overstatement to say that Larry Norman is to Christian music what John Lennon is to rock & roll or Bob Dylan is to folk music."{{Cite web |title=Larry Norman |url=http://www.ccmmagazine.com/news/stories/11571167/larry%20norman/ |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=CCM Magazine}} {{dead link |date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}} Thompson credited Norman for his impact on the genre as a musician, a producer, and a businessman.{{Cite web |title=Paul's Bio |url=http://www.paulcolman.com/about.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120705111215/http://www.paulcolman.com/about.htm |archive-date=July 5, 2012 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Paul Colman.com}}

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Norman also influenced a number of emerging punk and alternative rock artists. According to documentarian Larry Di Sabatino, Larry Norman was "an early influence" on the post-punk band U2.{{Cite web |last=Cody |first=John |title="Angel" Tells Tragic Story of Larry Norman |url=https://johncodyonline.com/writings/angel-tells-tragic-tale-of-larry-norman/ |access-date=January 18, 2022}} When Bono met with a summit of Nashville Christian music artists in 2002 to garner support for an African aid campaign, he specifically asked to see Norman.{{cite web |title=BONO'S SUPPORT FOR PEPFAR HELPED SAVE 27 MILLION LIVES |url=https://u2conference.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Bono_s-Support-for-PEPFAR-Helped-Save-27-Million-Lives.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508122005/https://u2conference.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Bono_s-Support-for-PEPFAR-Helped-Save-27-Million-Lives.pdf |archive-date=2021-05-08 |url-status=live |website=atU2.com |publisher=U2conference.com |access-date=January 18, 2022}} Upon Larry Norman's death, Bono sent flowers to his funeral with the note "Eternal singer, still eternal, Bono."{{cite web |title="Bono sent flowers to Larry Norman's funeral in 2008. Our family was touched by his gesture." |url=https://www.facebook.com/LarryNormanHQ/photos/bono-sent-flowers-to-larry-normans-funeral-in-2008-our-family-was-touched-by-his/1867122473511502/ |website=Facebook- Larry Norman |access-date=January 18, 2022}}

According to Charles Normal, Larry Norman attended his "first of many" punk rock shows while touring London in 1977, seeing Richard Hell and the Voidoids, the Damned, and Dead Boys. Regarding the punk movement, Norman stated that while he initially disliked some of the lyrical content, he was generally supportive of it and its youthful energy, which he viewed as preferable to disco.{{Cite web |title=Punk is Better Than Disco. |url=http://www.larrynorman.com/blog/punk-is-better-than-disco |access-date=January 18, 2022 |publisher=LarryNorman.com}}

Norman subsequently introduced his younger brother, Charles, to the genre, including the music of the Sex Pistols. Within several years, Charles was the lead guitarist for the Bay Area hardcore punk band, Executioner.{{Cite web |title=Executioner- Hellbound |url=https://punkvinyl.com/2010/07/22/executioner-hellbound/ |access-date=January 18, 2022 |website=The Punk Vault|date=July 22, 2010 }} Larry paid for the recording of Executioner's first EP in 1982, on the condition that they also record one of his songs. Larry Norman began to meet figures from the L.A. punk scene, and eventually recorded tracks with former Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones.{{Cite book |last=Thornbury |first=Gregory |title=Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music |date=2018 |publisher=Convergent |pages=215–216}} Norman also released a live recording of a punk version of "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?" {{Cite web |title=Down Under- Why Should the Punk |url=https://www.thesongsoflarrynorman.com/down-under.html |access-date=January 18, 2022 |website=The Songs of Larry Norman}}

Pixies frontman Black Francis described Larry Norman as having been his "total idol" as a teenager, whom he attempted to imitate.{{Cite book |last1=Frank |first1=Josh |title=Fool the World: The Oral History of a Band Called Pixies |last2=Ganz |first2=Caryn |date=2006 |publisher=Macmillan}} The band's first demo, The Purple Tape, was to contain a cover of Norman's song "Watch What You're Doing", but it was never released. A lyric from the song "Levitate Me" ("Come on pilgrim, you know He loves you!") formed the basis for the title of Pixies' 1987 EP Come On Pilgrim.{{Cite web |title=Watch What You're Doing (lost Pixies cover version of Larry Norman song; 1987) |url=https://lostmediawiki.com/Watch_What_You%27re_Doing_(lost_Pixies_cover_version_of_Larry_Norman_song;_1987) |access-date=January 18, 2022 |website=Lost Media Wiki}} Black was eventually introduced to Norman by members of U2 during the Zoo TV tour.{{cite web |last1=Coker |first1=Matt |title=David Di Sabatino Is Drawn to Charismatic Christians. But Nothing Prepared Him for Larry Norman. |date=October 16, 2008 |url=https://www.ocweekly.com/david-di-sabatino-is-drawn-to-charismatic-christians-but-nothing-prepared-him-for-larry-norman-6414286/ |publisher=OC Weekly |access-date=January 19, 2022}} Black's post-Pixies band, Frank Black and the Catholics, covered Larry Norman's song "Six Sixty Six". Norman and Black performed a duet of "Watch What You're Doing" at Norman's "farewell" concert, and the two were reportedly working on an album together at the time of his death, along with Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse.{{Cite magazine |last=Willman |first=Chris |title=Remembering Christian rock maverick Larry Norman |url=https://ew.com/article/2008/02/26/remembering-chr/ |access-date=January 18, 2022 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly}}

Steve Camp,{{Cite web |title=Larry Norman Home With The Lord ..."for me to live is Christ and die is gain" |url=http://stevenjcamp.blogspot.com/2008/02/larry-norman-home-with-lord-for-me-to.html |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Steven J. Camp.blogspot.com|date=February 25, 2008 }} Carolyn Arends,{{Cite web |title=Bananas with Larry Norman |url=http://www.conversantlife.com/music/bananas-with-larry-norman#continue |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006170624/http://www.conversantlife.com/music/bananas-with-larry-norman#continue |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Conversantlife.com}} Bob Hartman,{{Cite book |last=Taff |first=Tori |title=100 Greatest Songs of Christian Music: The Stories Behind the Music That Changed Our Lives Forever |date=2006 |publisher=Integrity Publishers |page=75}} TobyMac,{{Cite magazine |date=March 8, 2008 |title=Larry Norman (1947–2008) |magazine=Billboard |page=8}} Mark Salomon,{{Cite book |last=Salomon |first=Mark |title=Simplicity |date=2005 |publisher=Relevant Media Group |pages=42–43}} Martyn Joseph, and Steve Scott{{Cite web |title=Larry Norman and Steve Scott |url=http://larrynorman.activeboard.com/index.spark?aBID=119764&p=3&topicID=15786580 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Larry Norman.activeboard.com| date=March 5, 2008 }} have credited Norman as influences. Overall over 300 artists have covered songs by Norman.{{Cite web |title=Larry Norman: The Gospel Music Hall of Fame Biography |url=http://www.knet180radio.com/00_artistcorner_artistdetails.asp?iArtistId=1931155010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309201528/http://www.knet180radio.com/00_artistcorner_artistdetails.asp?iArtistId=1931155010 |archive-date=March 9, 2008 |access-date=December 31, 2018 |publisher=KNET}}

• 1973: One of three named as Best New Male Artist of the year by Cashbox.{{Cite book |last1=Eliot |first1=Marc |title=Down Thunder Road: The Making of Bruce Springsteen |last2=Appel |first2=Mike |date=1993 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |page=101}}
• 1989: Awarded the Christian Artists' Society Lifetime Achievement Award in a surprise ceremony at Estes Park, Colorado.{{Cite web |last=Ayers |first=William |title=Historical Chrono-Spective |url=http://www.onlyvisiting.com/larry/about/babylon_ayers.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031954/http://www.onlyvisiting.com/larry/about/babylon_ayers.html |archive-date=March 4, 2016}} 1991 CD booklet of the European version of Stranded In Babylon."Christian Artists' Conference, Estes Park, 1989", in Larry Norman, Blue Book, 15.
• 1990: CCM magazine voted Only Visiting This Planet as "the second-greatest Christian album ever recorded".{{Cite magazine |title=Jesus and Larry and Me |url=http://www.wittenburgdoor.com/larry-norman |url-status=dead |magazine=The Wittenburg Door |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602022141/http://www.wittenburgdoor.com/larry-norman |archive-date=June 2, 2015 |access-date=October 5, 2014}}
• 2001: Inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.{{Cite web |title=Elvis, Albertina and Larry Among Chosen People In Gospel Music Hall of Fame |url=http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/233017 |access-date=November 26, 2014 |website=BMI.com|date=September 16, 2001 }}
• 2001: Only Visiting This Planet was selected as the No. 2 album in CCM Magazine's The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music.{{Cite book |last=Granger |first=Thom |title=The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music |publisher=Harvest House |year=2001 |isbn=0-7369-0281-3}}
• 2004: Voted into the CCM Hall of Fame by readers of CCM Magazine.{{Cite magazine |title=Larry Norman |url=http://www.ccmmagazine.com/news/stories/11534452/archive2/larry%20norman/ |magazine=CCM Magazine |access-date=October 5, 2014}} {{dead link |date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}
• 2007: Inducted into the San Jose Rocks Hall of Fame, both as a member of People!, and as a solo artist. At that time Norman reunited for a concert with People!{{Cite news |last=Quillen |first=Shay |date=October 17, 2007 |title=Local legends on stage |work=Mercury News |url=http://www.mercurynews.com/shayquillen/ci_7205393?nclick_check=1 |access-date=December 27, 2007}}
• 2008: Honored at the 39th GMA Dove Award ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee.{{Cite web |last=Longoria |first=Richard |date=April 24, 2008 |title=Dove Awards |url=http://www.kiiitv.com/news/religion/18150514.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080719232406/http://www.kiiitv.com/news/religion/18150514.html |archive-date=July 19, 2008 |publisher=KIII}}
• 2009: Honored in a tribute segment at the Grammy Awards.{{Cite web |date=February 8, 2009 |title=News: Larry Norman honored at Grammy Awards |url=http://www.larrynorman.com/news.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091122061611/http://www.larrynorman.com/news.html |archive-date=November 22, 2009 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Larry Norman.com}}
• 2013: Only Visiting This Planet was one of 25 sound recordings inducted for 2013 into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry, that preserves as "cultural, artistic and/or historical treasures, representing the richness and diversity of the American soundscape."{{Cite web |date=April 2, 2014 |title=Hallelujah, the 2013 National Recording Registry Reaches 400 |url=https://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2014/14-052.html |website=The Library of Congress}} A statement by the Library of Congress called the album "the key work in the early history of Christian rock," describing Norman as one who "commented on the world as he saw it from his position as a passionate, idiosyncratic outsider to mainstream churches."{{Cite news |date=April 3, 2014 |title=Christian rock pioneer's album added to National Recording Registry |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/religion-news-in-brief/2014/04/02/2ddf56bc-ba81-11e3-80de-2ff8801f27af_story.html |url-status=dead |access-date=January 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140403100535/http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/religion-news-in-brief/2014/04/02/2ddf56bc-ba81-11e3-80de-2ff8801f27af_story.html |archive-date=April 3, 2014}}

Norman married actress and model Pamela Fay Ahlquist in December 1971.Minnesota Marriage Collection, 1958–2001, Groom Index 1970 through 1975, page J01.{{Cite news |date=May 17, 1978 |title=Model Doubles as Charm School, Bible Teacher |page=C2 |work=Spartanburg Herald-Journal}} They separated in 1978 and divorced in September 1980.{{Cite web |last=Newcomb |first=Brian Quincy |date=June 1989 |title=Larry Norman: The Long Journey Home |url=http://webspace.webring.com/people/cu/um_6524/lnorman20yrs.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006091936/http://webspace.webring.com/people/cu/um_6524/lnorman20yrs.html |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Club Exit eZine}}California Divorce Index, 1966–1984, Divorce Index, page 16574

In April 1982, Norman married Sarah Mae Finch.{{Cite web |year=1984 |title=Strait interview |url=http://twoln.clutteredsoul.com/intvw84.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122142206/http://twoln.clutteredsoul.com/intvw84.html |archive-date=November 22, 2018 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Cluttered Soul: The Words of Larry Norman}} However another source indicates this was in April 1984.{{Cite web |last=Wroe |first=Martin |date=October 1984 |title=Strait Magazine: The Height of Norman Wisdom |url=http://www.larrynorman.uk.com/word31.htm |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Larry Norman UK}} Finch had previously been married to Randy Stonehill from 1975 to 1980.{{Cite web |last=Donaldson |first=Devlin |title=Randy Stonehill : Life Between The Glory & The Flame |url=http://nifty-music.com/stonehill/ccm1081.html |access-date=November 26, 2014 |website=Nifty-Music.com}} The two had first met at a religious retreat in 1969.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/4RwI2AxbrZk Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20130808181101/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RwI2AxbrZk Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Cite web |title=Larry Norman telling story about Randy and Sarah pt 1 | date=June 4, 2009 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RwI2AxbrZk |access-date=October 5, 2014 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}} Their only child, Michael David Fariah Finch Norman, was born in August 1985.{{Cite web |date=April 6, 1996 |title=The Edited IRC Interview |url=http://www.onlyvisiting.com/larry/interviews/internet/questions.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924060541/http://www.onlyvisiting.com/larry/interviews/internet/questions.html |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Only Visiting.com}}Ancestry.com. California Birth Index, 1905–1995. The couple divorced in 1995.Cusic 2009, p. 313.

In 2008, World magazine speculated Norman fathered a son with an Australian woman during a 1988 tour, although definitive proof was never presented.{{Cite magazine |last=Orteza |first=Arsenio |date=July 12, 2008 |title=Larry Norman's tragic post-mortem |url=http://www.worldmag.com/articles/14180 |url-status=dead |magazine=World |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080802001400/http://www.worldmag.com/articles/14180 |archive-date=August 2, 2008 |access-date=July 17, 2008}}Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/KRXP4pAwX-s Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20160413135306/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRXP4pAwX-s Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Cite web |date=August 6, 2008 |title=I am the son of Larry Norman |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRXP4pAwX-s |access-date=October 5, 2014 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}

In February 1992, Norman suffered a nine-hour heart attack that resulted in permanent heart damage, leading to frequent hospitalizations in the years that followed.{{Cite web |title=Larry Norman feature in VOG |url=http://www.onlyvisiting.com/larry/interviews/VOG/larry.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103231500/http://www.onlyvisiting.com/larry/interviews/VOG/larry.html |archive-date=January 3, 2015 |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Only Visiting.com}} By early 1995, Norman had been hospitalized thirteen times and had a defibrillator implant, which enabled him to perform occasional small concerts.

After a lengthy illness, Norman died on February 24, 2008, at the age of 60 at his home in Salem, Oregon.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/zPbRebcmwJw Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20110723051806/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPbRebcmwJw&gl=US&hl=en&has_verified=1 Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Cite web |title=Larry Norman in the hospital greeting, February 2008 | date=February 23, 2008 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPbRebcmwJw |access-date=October 5, 2014 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite magazine |date=February 28, 2008 |title=Larry Norman: The Original Jesus Rocker Goes to Jesus |url=http://www.wittenburgdoor.com/original-jesus-rocker-goes-jesus |url-status=dead |magazine=The Wittenburg Door |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100118211811/http://wittenburgdoor.com/original-jesus-rocker-goes-jesus |archive-date=January 18, 2010 |access-date=August 13, 2010}}{{Cite news |last=Norman |first=Charles |date=February 24, 2008 |title=Larry Norman: April 8, 1947 – February 24, 2008 |work=Larry Norman.com |url=http://www.larrynorman.com/news/022408.html |url-status=dead |access-date=February 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080807113939/http://www.larrynorman.com/news/022408.html |archive-date=August 7, 2008}} The previous day he had posted on his website:

I feel like a prize in a box of Cracker Jacks with God's hand reaching down to pick me up. I have been under medical care for months. My wounds are getting bigger. I have trouble breathing. I am ready to fly home. I won't be here much longer. I can't do anything about it. My heart is too weak. I want to say goodbye to everyone ... I want to say I love you. I'd like to push back the darkness with my bravest effort ... Goodbye, farewell, we will meet again.{{Cite news |date=February 25, 2008 |title=Larry Norman, 'father of Christian rock music,' passes away in Salem at age 60 |work=Statesman Journal |url=http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080225/UPDATE/80225031 |access-date=March 26, 2008}} {{dead link |date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}

Following a public memorial on March 1 at the Church on the Hill in Turner, Oregon, Norman was buried in Salem's City View Cemetery. His tombstone reads: "Larry Norman / Evangelist Without Portfolio / 1947–2008 / Bloodstained Israelite".{{Cite book |last1=Demy |first1=Timothy J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9YI2DwAAQBAJ&q=%22Evangelist+Without+Portfolio%22+larry+norman&pg=PA310 |title=Evangelical America: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Religious Culture |last2=Ph.D |first2=Paul R. Shockley |date=September 21, 2017 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9781610697743 |page=310 |via=Google Books}}

Fallen Angel: The Outlaw Larry Norman: A Bible Story is a controversial 2008 documentary on Norman's life by filmmaker David Di Sabatino. Fallen Angel includes interviews with several people who had worked with or been close to Norman thirty years earlier, including his first wife and Randy Stonehill, who recorded the film's official soundtrack, Paradise Sky.{{Cite news |last=Coker |first=Matt |title=David Di Sabatino Is Drawn to Charismatic Christians. But Nothing Prepared Him for Larry Norman |work=Orange County Weekly |url=http://www.ocweekly.com/content/printVersion/262831 |url-status=dead |access-date=May 10, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608163653/http://www.ocweekly.com/content/printVersion/262831/ |archive-date=June 8, 2011}}{{Cite web |title=Paradise Sky – official soundtrack to the movie Fallen Angel |url=http://www.tollbooth.org/2009/reviews/stonehill.html |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=The Phantom Tollbooth.org}}{{Cite web |title=Randy And Larry |url=http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/news/Randy_And_Larry/34741/p1/ |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Cross Rhythms}}

Norman and his second wife had refused to participate in or cooperate with the project.{{Cite web |last=Rimmer |first=Mike |date=November 1, 2009 |title=Randy Stonehill: The Jesus Music Veteran on the Fallen Angel Movie and his Latest Music |url=http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/music/Randy_Stonehill_The_Jesus_music_veteran_on_the_Fallen_Angel_movie_and_his_latest_music/37818/p1/ |website=Cross Rhythms}} A cease and desist notice initiated by Norman's family temporarily prevented the film's public screening, and prompted Di Sabatino to file his own lawsuit against Solid Rock in March 2009.{{Cite web |title=David Di Sabatino v. Rock Solid Productions Inc |url=http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-cacdce/case_no-8:2009cv00357/case_id-440025/ |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Justia}} Four months later, the case was settled out of court, allowing the film to be shown.{{Cite news |date=April 20, 2010 |title=Belcourt shows film tonight about Christian rock pioneer Larry Norman |work=The Tennessean |url=http://www.tennessean.com/print/article/20100420/NEWS06/4160352/Belcourt-shows-film-tonight-about-Christian-rock-pioneer-Larry-Norman}} {{dead link |date=November 2014}} While interviewing Stonehill, Cross Rhythms{{'}} Mike Rimmer said the film portrayed Norman as "Machiavellian, particularly in his dealings with his artists."

Norman's Solid Rock Records was said to have ended when, "Things finally fell apart in 1979, after it was discovered Larry was cheating on his wife – and having an affair with Randy's wife", {{dead link |date=November 2021}} a claim Norman's brother denies.{{Cite web |date=June 1, 2012 |title=Charles Norman: Talking about Larry Norman and the Fallen Angel documentary |url=http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/music/Charles_Norman__Talking_about_Larry_Norman_and_the_Fallen_Angel_documentary_/48678/p2 |website=Cross Rhythms}} Gregory Alan Thornbury's biography of Norman proposes an alternate date and reason for Solid Rock Records being wound up and the artists released from their contracts. Word Records signalled they planned to end their relationship with Solid Rock due to poor sales performances of a few of the albums and the infrequent nature of releases being delivered by the label and this news led to a breakdown in the working and personal relationship between Larry Norman and Philip Mangano in May 1980. Some discussions had already begun about certain artists being released from their contracts prior to the meeting on June 17, 1980, which was called to "clear up the relationship between Solid Rock and Street Level Artists Agency, and to deal with Daniel Amos' request to have all their contracts back from Solid Rock — management, recording, tapes, publishing, and so on" and which ended two hours later in stalemate and acrimony rather than resolution.{{Cite book |last=Thornbury |first=Gregory Alan |title=Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music: Larry Norman & The Perils of Christian Rock |publisher=Convergent Books |year=2018 |pages=180–202}}

{{Main|Larry Norman discography}}

Since the 1960s, Norman's work has appeared on over 100 albums, compilations, and concert bootlegs. These recordings have been released under various labels and with various artists. Some of his principal albums are:

• Upon This Rock (1969)
• Street Level (1970)
• Bootleg (1972)
• Only Visiting This Planet (1972)
• So Long Ago the Garden (1973)
• In Another Land (1976)
• Something New under the Son (1981)
• Home at Last (1989)
• Stranded in Babylon (1991)
• Tourniquet (2001)

• The Long Road Home: Vaudeville, Dancing and How My Mother Met My Father. Salem, OR: Solid Rock Publications, 2007.

{{Reflist}}

• Alfonso, Barry. The Billboard Guide to Contemporary Christian Music. New York: Billboard Books, 2002.
• Baker, Frank. Contemporary Christian Music: Where It Came From, What It Is, Where It's Going. Westchester, IL: Crossway Books, 1985.
• Cusic, Don. Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music: Pop, Rock, and Worship. (ABC-CLIO, 2009).
• Frank, Josh Caryn Ganz. Fool the World: The Oral History of a Band Named Pixies. St. Martin's Press, 2006.
• Howard, Jay R. and John M. Streck. "Contemporary Christian Music: Where Rock Meets Religion". The Journal of Popular Culture 26:1 (March 5, 2004).
• Norman, Larry. Blue Book. 1989. Released with Home At Last album.
• Norman, Larry. Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music Songbook. Los Angeles, CA: One Way, 1972.
• Powell, Mark Allan. Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2002.
• Ruppli, Michel and Ed Novitsky. The MGM Labels: A Discography, 1961–1982 Vol. 2. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1998.
• Stowe, David W. No Sympathy for the Devil: Christian Pop Music and the Transformation of American Evangelicalism. UNC Press Books, 2011.
• Thompson, John J. Raised by Wolves: The Story of Christian Rock & Roll ECW, 2000.

• Taylor, Jeff, and Chad Israelson. The Political World of Bob Dylan: Freedom and Justice, Power and Sin. Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. (chapters 5 and 6) {{ISBN|978-1349952298}}
• Thornbury, Gregory Alan. Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music? Larry Norman and the Perils of Christian Rock. Convergent Books, March 20, 2018. {{ISBN|110190707X}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{Official website|http://www.larrynorman.com}}
• [http://larrynorman.uk.com/ Official British Site]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304073840/http://twoln.clutteredsoul.com/ Cluttered Soul: The Words of Larry Norman]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081013085139/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3506298.ece Obituary in The Times, March 7, 2008]
• [http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/11/righteous.rocker/index.html?eref=ew/ "Righteous Rocker Paved Way" from CNN]

{{Larry Norman}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norman, Larry}}

Category:1947 births

Category:2008 deaths

Category:American rock musicians

Category:Jesus movement

Category:Street ministry

Category:American performers of Christian music

Category:Musicians from Corpus Christi, Texas

Category:Arena Rock Recording Company artists

Category:American folk rock musicians

Category:Folk musicians from Texas

Category:Singers from Texas

Category:Songwriters from Texas

Category:Burials at City View Cemetery

Category:People from Campbell, California

Category:Campbell High School (California) alumni

Category:San Jose State University alumni