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| {{Short description|American musician and actor (1950–2019)}} | |||
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| {{Infobox musical artist | {{Infobox musical artist | ||
| | name = Jeff Fenholt | | name = Jeff Fenholt | ||
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| | caption = | | caption = | ||
| | image_size = <!-- Only for images smaller than 220 pixels --> | | image_size = <!-- Only for images smaller than 220 pixels --> | ||
| | background = solo_singer | |||
| | birth_name = Jeffrey Craig Fenholt | | birth_name = Jeffrey Craig Fenholt | ||
| | birth_date = {{birth date|1950|9|15}} | | birth_date = {{birth date|1950|9|15}} | ||
| | birth_place = United States | | birth_place = United States | ||
| | death_date = {{death date and age|2019|9|10|1950|9|15}} | |||
| | death_place = | |||
| | genre = {{hlist|]|]/]|]|]}} | |||
| | occupation = {{hlist|Musician|singer|actor|]}} | |||
| | instrument = {{hlist|Guitar|vocals|piano}} | | instrument = {{hlist|Guitar|vocals|piano}} | ||
| | genre = {{hlist|]|]/]|]|]}} | |||
| | occupation = {{hlist|Singer-songwriter|musician|actor|]}} | |||
| | years_active = 1970–2019 | | years_active = 1970–2019 | ||
| | label = | | label = | ||
| | associated_acts = {{hlist|]|]|]|]|]|]|]|]}} | | associated_acts = {{hlist|]|]|]|]|]|]|]|]}} | ||
| }}'''Jeffrey Craig Fenholt''' (September 15, 1950 – September 10, 2019) was an American musician, singer and actor best known for his performance as the title character in the original Broadway theatre production of Jesus Christ Superstar, and for his appearance on the cover of Time. In later years, Fenholt gained recognition as a Christian evangelist and singer, as well as controversy over his involvement with the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. | |||
| | death_date = {{death date and given age|2019|9|10|68}} | |||
| Attended Whetstone High School in Columbus, Ohio during which time he was a member of the band The Fifth Order, which charted with the single "Going Too Far". | |||
| }} | |||
| Fenholt released several solo recordings, including a successful cover of ]'s "]"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.45cat.com/record/445604us|title=Simple Man / Billy Is Dead – Jeff Fenholt|publisher=45cat|access-date=September 13, 2019}}</ref> (not to be confused with ]'s "A Simple Man," which was released at nearly the same time<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.45cat.com/record/bt141|title=A Simple Man / Don't Expect Me To Be Your Friend – Lobo|publisher=45cat|access-date=September 13, 2019}}</ref>). | |||
| '''Jeffrey Craig Fenholt''' (September 15, 1950 – September 10, 2019) was an American singer, musician, and actor best known for his performance as the title character in the original Broadway theatre adaptation of '']'' and for his appearance on the cover of ''Time''. In later years, Fenholt gained notoriety as a Christian ] and singer, as well as controversy over his involvement with the English ] band ]. | |||
| An article in the December 1998 issue of ''Vanity Fair'' reviewing Ian Gibson's biography of ], detailed Fenholt's past as a "boy toy" for Dalí's wife ]. The article by John Richardson was titled "Dali's Demon Bride" and was unsparing in its criticism of both Gala and her husband. The article was not much more kind to Fenholt than it was to Gala; according to the review, Fenholt became Gala's lover when she was in her eighties, and secured in return "a sizable house on Long Island... and large sums of money."<ref>"," by John Richardson, ''Vanity Fair'', December 1998. Retrieved 2-3-2022</ref> Fenholt was outraged at the depiction of Gala, and wrote a scathing letter to the editor, stating the authors had no evidence to substantiate their depiction of Gala Dalí. | |||
| ==Background and early years== | |||
| Fenholt grew up in Ohio and went to school in Columbus, Ohio. He was involved with a number of rock bands and performed at various school functions. Fenholt got his first regional hit recording titled "Goin' Too Far" with the band The Fifth Order when he was 14. He toured extensively while he was in high school. By his own admission, he was a troubled youth with a juvenile delinquency record. Later, while in college, he worked at Jeffrey Mining Machinery Co. as a material mover in the motor winding and assembly department, and loading and unloading beef sides for a non-union roughneck truck dock, EC Jones, Trucking. Fenholt attended Ohio State University for two years on a music scholarship, and later earned his B.A. in music at The School of Bible Theology University in San Jacinto, California. | |||
| Fenholt was cast as Jesus in the title role in the original Broadway production of ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' at the Mark Hellinger Theatre. ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' sold in excess of 12 million albums. Future ''JCS'' legends ] and ] toured with Fenholt on the JCS world tour as Judas Iscariot and Mary Magdalene, respectively. | |||
| Fenholt released several solo recordings, including a successful cover of ]'s "]"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.45cat.com/record/445604us|title=Simple Man / Billy Is Dead – Jeff Fenholt|publisher=45cat|access-date=September 13, 2019}}</ref> (not to be confused with ]'s "A Simple Man", which was released at nearly the same time<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.45cat.com/record/bt141|title=A Simple Man / Don't Expect Me To Be Your Friend – Lobo|publisher=45cat|access-date=September 13, 2019}}</ref>). | |||
| Fenholt co-founded Entertainment Capital Corporation with Jeff Thornburg, former president of The Robert Stigwood Org, producing Andy Warhol's film, ''Bad''. ECC also produced recordings for Fenholt. Thornburg and Fenholt amicably parted ways when Thornburg accepted the position of head of venture capital for Paramount Pictures. | |||
| In 1978, Fenholt recorded a disco LP titled ''Smile'' for CBS and was paid $300,000. Fenholt also recorded for Capitol Records, Universal, Paramount, Polygram, Polydor, Decca, RCA, and as a youth, Laurie, Diamond and Cameo Parkway. He last recorded for Sony. | |||
| In 1983, Fenholt moved across the country to Southern California to pursue music, but this time it was for rock and roll. During this period, Fenholt would record demos in the studio with Tony Iommi and members of Black Sabbath as a lead vocalist, but his departure from the group would take place before anything officially materialized. Fenholt was also the lead singer of a number of other rock groups in his lifetime, such as, "Driver" featuring members of Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, and Dio. | |||
| Fenholt's 1994 autobiography ''From Darkness to Light'' reveals that he was abused and mistreated as a youth and subjected to frequent beatings. In 1996, Fenholt's parents sued him, ] (TBN), and the publisher of his autobiography for $12 million each for defamation of character. Fenholt's siblings claimed he made up the stories of abuse, but the lawsuit subsequently was dropped after Fenholt produced court documents from the superior court of Franklin County, Ohio, confirming his claims. Fenholt later said that he had a "warm relationship" with his mother and family. | |||
| ==Conversion to Christianity== | |||
| According to Fenholt's autobiography, he was heavily addicted to alcohol and drugs following the end of ]. Fenholt's often-repeated testimony (later published in his autobiography) details a visit from Christian construction workers (Nick Dissipio, owner, hired by his Christian wife to rebuild a wing of his house) who confronted him regarding his portrayal of Christ on stage. Fenholt converted to Christianity, abstained from his addictions, spent the next several years struggling to balance his faith and his career, and then became a high-profile personality on TBN. Fenholt sported long hair, an unusual style in conservative evangelical circles, and he often appeared with his wife Maureen (nicknamed Reeni). | |||
| His ministry went global, with tours and concerts in Italy, South Africa (including one tour with his daughter Shaye), Australia, New Zealand, South and Central America, and Europe. The international trip to Moscow, Russia in the Olympic Stadium took place with approximately 100,000 people in attendance in communist Russia. | |||
| In 1989, Jeff Fenholt would return to the very same theater where it all started with Jesus Christ Superstar—the Mark Hellinger Theater, but this time it was to dedicate the theater as a new evangelical Pentecostal church in Times Square pastored by David Wilkerson called "Times Square Church". | |||
| In 1996, Fenholt was Chairman of Youth for a rally called "Washington for Jesus" which took place at the Nation's Capitol, and is reported as drawing nearly 500,000 people. | |||
| His show, ''Highway to Heaven'', on TBN was aired around the world and reached millions. Fenholt also had a national and world-wide musical TV program called ''Standing on the Rock'', which aired over 36 satellites covering most of the world. TBN also recorded some of Fenholt's self-composed solo worship albums. His Christian music sold in excess of 3.5 million albums, and his ''Christmas Classics'' album went platinum. In total, Jeff Fenholt received a double-platinum album for ''Jesus Christ Superstar'', plus an additional platinum album and two gold albums in the gospel genre. | |||
| ==Involvement with Tony Iommi/Black Sabbath== | |||
| Fenholt built his career as a TBN personality based mostly upon his involvement with ''Jesus Christ Superstar'', and ]. In the Black Sabbath Biography publication ''Never Say Die'', Fenholt said that Black Sabbath manager ] informed him he was singing for Black Sabbath. | |||
| The ''Never Say Die'' book, written by Garry Sharpe-Young and updated as ''Sabbath Bloody Sabbath – The Battle for Black Sabbath'', states that a substantial number of recordings were made during Fenholt's time with the group. It is acknowledged that this was a confusing time in the band's history, as singer ] had left the band after six months only having recorded demos. ] and ] had left as well, leaving ] as the sole original member. | |||
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| | quote = "Jeff Fenholt sang on some recordings for Tony Iommi in (19)85 in (Los Angeles). Tony was looking for a singer for what was supposed to be his "solo" album. Jeff came down and worked in the studio from Jan–May. This project became the "Seventh Star", "Black Sabbath" album with ] on vocals, and my first album. That's pretty much all there is to the story. Jeff had an awesome voice but it just didn't work out." | |||
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| | quote = <ref>"Iron Man: My Journey through Heaven and Hell with Black Sabbath" by Tony Iommi {{ISBN|978-0306821455}}</ref>"We then tried this guy called Jeff Fenholt. He was another one who had played the lead in Jesus Christ Superstar, in the Broadway version of that musical. So we had Ian Gillan, who was the original Jesus Christ Superstar, and here we had the Broadway Jesus wanting to join Black Sabbath. We tried Jeff out and he had a good voice. I cut a couple of demos with him in Los Angeles. One of the tracks was ‘Star Of India’, which later turned into ‘Seventh Star’. Another one was ‘Eye of the Storm’, which ended up on the album as ‘Turn To Stone’. And we had a track that eventually turned into ‘Danger Zone’. Of course these demos got out and found their way on to a bootleg album. Again. They called it Eighth Star or something like that. Jeff seemed a nice enough guy. It might have worked with him, even though I wasn't 100 per cent convinced that he’d be able to do our older stuff. But then Jeff Glixman came in to produce the album and he didn't think Fenholt was working out, recording-wise. And that was that. A little later Jeff Fenholt suddenly became this big TV evangelist. I couldn't believe it, because when we met him he was saying things like: ‘Oh yeah, I fucked that chick.’ The New York Times did a thing about him being with Black Sabbath and they wrote that he saw the light, rejected evil and all this bollocks. We were right back in the satanism thing because Fenholt was going on about it. I was getting phone calls to do Larry King Live about him. I thought, I’m not getting involved in that! You try and talk religion on TV in America and you have no chance. Especially him being an evangelist now; they’re all going to side with him and I won’t have a leg to stand on!" | |||
| | source = —] | |||
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| }} | |||
| Manager Don Arden suggested Iommi use Fenholt and tracks were written, in the main by Iommi and Nicholls, for a proposed new album. The book ''Never Say Die'' voices opinion from other band members that Fenholt might have been kept in the dark about plans to make an Iommi solo album. Geoff Nicholls has stated that after Fenholt's departure, Iommi wanted to use different singers, including ], ], ] and ]. | |||
| Fenholt says several of his melodies were used in songs that appeared on ''Seventh Star'' (and subsequently did not receive credit for them). None of his lyrics were used, as confirmed by comparing the Fenholt demos with the album. Rumors suggesting he only left the project because of supposed personal conflicts with the lyrical material being written and his religious faith are suggested by Fenholt and Geoff Nicholls, who wrote the lyrics. Fenholt claims it was in fact a physical argument with Don Arden, along with Iommi's bad habits and Tony's proposed dark lyrics that caused his departure. However, Iommi has stated that Fenholt was never an official member of Black Sabbath. Iommi went on to say that he thought Fenholt had a great voice, but it didn't work, due to Fenholt having difficulty in singing "Sabbath" type lyrics and fitting in. | |||
| After his time with Iommi, Fenholt would briefly replace ] in Driver, a joint project of Rudy Sarzo and Tommy Aldridge (each of Ozzy and Whitesnake fame). Upon recording several cuts with Driver (one of which is in common circulation amongst fans, "Rock the World") Fenholt left the project to do a solo tour of South America and was replaced by his successor in ], ]. Following a legal dispute with another band of the same name, the Driver project would change its name to M.A.R.S., upon the recruitment of guitarist ]. Only one album was released, 1986's '']'', before the band officially disbanded. | |||
| Fenholt continued as a solo Christian artist to perform numerous American and world tours in stadiums and arenas, often drawing in excess of 100,000 in attendance. | |||
| ==Departure== | |||
| {{unreferenced section|date=September 2019}} | |||
| In 1993, Fenholt announced on the TV program '']'' that he planned to do a Halloween concert in an arena in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. Having advance notification from the attorney general of Massachusetts of his arrival in Wisconsin, Wiccan Priest Selena Fox (Circle Sanctuary) got a ] from the local county court prohibiting not only his trespass on private property but actually specifying that he stay a particular distance from the property line. Fenholt won in court. | |||
| In 1996, Fenholt was the chairman of a youth rally titled Washington for Jesus on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, drawing nearly 500,000 in attendance. Fenholt raised over $1.7 million to stage the event, donating over $300,000 of his own funds. | |||
| An article in the December 1997 issue of ''Vanity Fair'' reviewing Ian Gibson's biography of ], detailed Fenholt's past as a "boy toy" for Dali's wife ]. The article by John Richardson was titled "Dali's Demon Bride" and was unsparing in its criticism of both Gala and her husband. The article was not much more kind to Fenholt than it was to Gala; according to the review, Fenholt became Gala's lover when she was in her eighties, and secured in return "a sizable house on Long Island... and large sums of money." <ref>"," by John Richardson, ''Vanity Fair'', December 1997. Retrieved 2-3-2022</ref> Fenholt was outraged at the depiction of Gala, and wrote a scathing letter to the editor, stating the authors had no evidence to substantiate their depiction of Gala Dalí. | |||
| Fenholt was divorced in 1998 and left TBN, except for a few brief appearances, including one after the events of September 11, 2001, that featured a marked change in his demeanor and appearance, including short hair and a quick exit from the stage following his performance. His album of Christian music was TBN's promotion in December 2001. Fenholt recorded five solo albums for TBN, featuring many of his own compositions. These sold in excess of 3.3 million copies. Fenholt earned one Platinum and two Gold albums. He briefly was seen doing a late-night timeslot for a half-hour program. Fenholt stated that after his divorce he had "lost his fire". | |||
| Fenholt returned to TBN on March 3, 2004, as a guest on ''Behind the Scenes'', hosted by ]. Fenholt mentioned Black Sabbath, citing the book ''Never Say Die''. | |||
| In 2008, Fenholt was hired as executive producer of the Beijing Olympic concert series. | |||
| ==Personal life== | |||
| Jeffrey Craig Fenholt was born on September 15, 1951, in Columbus, Ohio to parents Robert and Janet Fenholt, has a brother named Tom, and two sisters, Nancy and Melinda. He also has one foster brother, Bill. | |||
| Fenholt married Maureen (Reeni) McFadden at only 20 years of age and was married for 28 years. He has six adult children, Shaye, Tristan, Nissa, William, Amory, and Jeffrey. | |||
| Fenholt died of unknown causes at his residence on September 10, 2019. A memorial service was held at The Rock in Anaheim, California on September 28, 2019. The service was attended by family and friends, members of the original Broadway cast of ''Jesus Christ Superstar'', as well as former bandmates associated with Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake and Dio. Pastors and ministers across the country also attended. | |||
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Latest revision as of 16:07, 15 November 2024
American musician and actor (1950–2019)
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| Jeff Fenholt | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Jeffrey Craig Fenholt |
| Born | (1950-09-15)September 15, 1950 United States |
| Died | September 10, 2019(2019-09-10) (aged 68) |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1970–2019 |
Jeffrey Craig Fenholt (September 15, 1950 – September 10, 2019) was an American musician, singer and actor best known for his performance as the title character in the original Broadway theatre production of Jesus Christ Superstar, and for his appearance on the cover of Time. In later years, Fenholt gained recognition as a Christian evangelist and singer, as well as controversy over his involvement with the heavy metal band Black Sabbath.
Attended Whetstone High School in Columbus, Ohio during which time he was a member of the band The Fifth Order, which charted with the single "Going Too Far".
Fenholt released several solo recordings, including a successful cover of Graham Nash's "Simple Man" (not to be confused with Lobo's "A Simple Man," which was released at nearly the same time).
An article in the December 1998 issue of Vanity Fair reviewing Ian Gibson's biography of Salvador Dalí, detailed Fenholt's past as a "boy toy" for Dalí's wife Gala Dalí. The article by John Richardson was titled "Dali's Demon Bride" and was unsparing in its criticism of both Gala and her husband. The article was not much more kind to Fenholt than it was to Gala; according to the review, Fenholt became Gala's lover when she was in her eighties, and secured in return "a sizable house on Long Island... and large sums of money." Fenholt was outraged at the depiction of Gala, and wrote a scathing letter to the editor, stating the authors had no evidence to substantiate their depiction of Gala Dalí.
References
- "Simple Man / Billy Is Dead – Jeff Fenholt". 45cat. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- "A Simple Man / Don't Expect Me To Be Your Friend – Lobo". 45cat. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- "Dali's Demon Bride," by John Richardson, Vanity Fair, December 1998. Retrieved 2-3-2022
External links
- Jeff Fenholt at IMDb
- Jeff Fenholt at the Internet Broadway Database
- Jeff Fenholt discography at Discogs
