A rising star in Christian music scene is returning to public attention with a new identity after a mysterious absence of seven years ago mostly across the world.

Jennifer Knapp, 36, is not only releasing a new album is like “coming out of the closet,” a term that the singer / songwriter nominated for a Grammy considers it “very bizarre” in this moment: she relaunched her music career, with some nervousness.

The singer, born in Kansas, went out with men in her college days, ready for a backlash by religious fans over the years, always made a point to dispel rumors about her sexuality.No other singer as famous as Knapp in the genre of Christian music is openly gay. In the past, the Christian music industry disapproved of the artists that deviated from the standard.

But Knapp is considered “a person of faith” and rejects the suggestion that she is abandoning her church, which hampered prosecution artists like Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin gospel when they left behind (the gospel music) to pursue pop stardom.

During her time away from the spotlight, Knapp went through a kind of early midlife crisis, which led her to reassess her faith, her sexuality and her work. Making music was the last of her worries.
Before meeting her girlfriend in the U.S., she has been celibate for ten years. Knapp said it agrees with the general expectation in relation to unmarried members of the evangelical community.

Via: Reuters.