Janet Mead (15 August 1937 – 26 January 2022) was an Australian Catholic nun who was best known for recording a pop-rock version of the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

. The surprise hit reached Number 3 on the Australian singles chart (Kent Music Report) in 1974 and Number 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the same year. The single earned her a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nomination and an Australian Gospel Music Awards in 2004. It sold over one and a half million copies and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on 8 April 1974. It was also certified gold in Australia. Mead became the second woman to have a top 10 single on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart whilst a nun. Sister Luc-Gabrielle (

Jeanine Deckers Jeanne-Paule Marie "Jeannine" Deckers (17 October 1933 – 29 March 1985), better known as Sœur Sourire () and often called The Singing Nun in English-speaking countries, was a Belgian singer-songwriter and a member of the Dominican Order in ...

), aka "''Sœur Sourire''" and "

the Singing Nun Jeanne-Paule Marie "Jeannine" Deckers (17 October 1933 – 29 March 1985), better known as Sœur Sourire () and often called The Singing Nun in English-speaking countries, was a Belgian singer-songwriter and a member of the Dominican Order in ...

", had a Number 1 pop hit in 1963 with "

Dominique "Dominique" is a 1963 French language popular song, written and performed by the Belgian female singer Jeannine Deckers, better known as Sœur Sourire ("Sister Smile" in French) or The Singing Nun. The song is about Saint Dominic, a Spanish-bo ...

". Mead taught music at St Aloysius College, Adelaide, where the music video for "The Lord's Prayer" was filmed. After recording, Mead continued to visit the school to teach the junior students basic music.

Life and career

Mead was born in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, in 1937. She formed a band, simply called the Rock Band, when she was 17 to provide music for the weekly

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

at her local church. She studied piano at the Adelaide Conservatorium before joining the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...

order and became a music teacher at two local Catholic schools. She began to explore the "Rock Mass" concept in the early 1970s, desiring to make the Mass more interesting and accessible for her students. This led to a successful series of Rock Masses which she held at

St Francis Xavier's Cathedral, Adelaide St Francis Xavier's Cathedral is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic cathedral in Adelaide, South Australia. It is classified as being a Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival building in the Early English Period, Early English style. The ...

. Mead began making professional recordings of her music for schools and churches in 1973. Later that year, she went to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

for a recording session with

Festival Records Festival Records (later known as Festival Mushroom Records) was an Australian recording and publishing company founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1952 and operated until 2005. Festival was a wholly owned subsidiary of News Limited from 1961 to ...

produced by Martin Erdman. Festival asked her to record a cover of the

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

song "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" which had been written for the soundtrack of the

Franco Zeffirelli Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019), was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post-World War II era, ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

of the same name, but Martin Erdman wanted to record a rock

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

of the

to serve as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

and so a

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...

was born. The single became the first Australian recording to sell over one million copies in the United States, earning a gold record award for Mead and Martin Erdman. Mead donated her share of the

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...

to charity while Festival Records used their portion of the proceeds to refit one of their studios. The success of the single led to the recording of an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''With You I Am'', which reached No. 19 in July 1974. Her second album, ''A Rock Mass'', was a complete recording of one of her Rock Masses. Mead resisted the call to continue her pop career, despite intense media interest. She described the record's success as a "horrible time" in her life – worldwide success brought a pressure that led her to question her faith. Her third album, recorded in 1983, was filed away in the Festival vaults after Mead withdrew from the public eye. The tapes were later rediscovered by Martin Erdman and some tracks, including a new version of "The Lord's Prayer", were put together to become the 1999 album ''A Time To Sing'', which was released as part of the 25th anniversary celebrations of the hit single. Mead did not abandon her love of music and performance and returned to the arts later in life. In 1990, she had a record, ''A day will come'', produced with the conservative Catholic charismatic religious group, the Romero Community. In October 2001, she directed the Romero Company's annual production at the Melbourne Trades Hall Auditorium, an inventive adaptation by Damien Mead of

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

's ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...

''. In 2004, Mead received the

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

Golden Gospel Award in recognition of her services to Australian Christian music at the Australian Gospel Music Awards in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. Martin Erdman also received the Yamaha Golden Gospel Award concurrently and presented a short feature film, ''Sister Janet Mead'', at these awards which were coordinated by the Australian Gospel Music Association. Also in 2004, Mead was named

South Australian of the Year The Australian of the Year Award is given annually on Australia Day. The national award is a major public event, televised nationwide. The Award also operates at the State level. This page lists winners of the South Australia state award, who a ...

for her care of the homeless.

Death

Janet Mead died from cancer in Adelaide on 26 January 2022, aged 84.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

*
Archive

Video of the song ''The Lord’s Prayer'' by Sister Janet Mead
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mead, Janet 1937 births 2022 deaths 20th-century Australian Roman Catholic nuns 21st-century Australian Roman Catholic nuns Australian gospel singers Australian music industry Australian women singers A&M Records artists Deaths from cancer in South Australia Sisters of Mercy Musicians from Adelaide