# Besides Sœur Sourire (The Singing Nun), Has Any Cleric Or Member Of A Religious Order Had A Hit Song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 7, 2017, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-soeur-sourire-the-singing-nun-has-any-cleric-or-member-of-a-religious-order-had-a-hit-song/781595 "2017-03-07T02:30:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-soeur-sourire-the-singing-nun-has-any-cleric-or-member-of-a-religious-order-had-a-hit-song/781595/1 "2017-03-07T02:30:04Z")
Has any Imam, Priest, Monk, or what-have-you ever joined Sister Smile on the Top 100? ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-soeur-sourire-the-singing-nun-has-any-cleric-or-member-of-a-religious-order-had-a-hit-song/781595/2 "2017-03-07T02:37:52Z")
The Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos hit #3 with their album of Gregorian chant in the mid 90s. > **[Chant (Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos album)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chant_(Benedictine_Monks_of_Santo_Domingo_de_Silos_album))** > > Chant is a compilation album of Gregorian chant, performed by the Benedictine monks of Santo Domingo de Silos in Spain. > The performances were recorded perhaps as early as the 1970s, either in the province of Burgos or in Madrid, the Spanish capital. The music did not sell significantly until it was re-released by Angel Records in 1994 when it was strongly marketed as an antidote to the stress of modern life. Chant is the best-selling album of Gregorian chant ever released. > It peaked at No. 3 on ... ETA: if you count albums. Not sure if they had any charting singles. I don’t really understand how Billboard charting works. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-soeur-sourire-the-singing-nun-has-any-cleric-or-member-of-a-religious-order-had-a-hit-song/781595/3 "2017-03-07T02:41:45Z")
Sister Janet Mead had a hit with a rock version of, “The Lord’s Prayer.” ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-soeur-sourire-the-singing-nun-has-any-cleric-or-member-of-a-religious-order-had-a-hit-song/781595/4 "2017-03-07T02:43:27Z")
The monks who did [the album of Gregorian chant](http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-03-27/entertainment/9403270031_1_monks-chants-benedictine-monks-plainchant) did pretty well with it. [ETA: pfft, ninja’d by **Bayard**] The [soundtrack](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120102/soundtrack) for _Seven Years in Tibet_ had Buddhist monks singing, but I don’t know if it charted. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-soeur-sourire-the-singing-nun-has-any-cleric-or-member-of-a-religious-order-had-a-hit-song/781595/5 "2017-03-07T02:46:29Z")
And [the album _The Priests_, by The Priests, who are priests](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Priests_(album)), seems to have performed pretty well too. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-soeur-sourire-the-singing-nun-has-any-cleric-or-member-of-a-religious-order-had-a-hit-song/781595/6 "2017-03-07T02:48:57Z")
[Nuns’ group tops classical charts.](http://hereandnow.legacy.wbur.org/2013/07/01/singing-nuns-missouri) [Other nuns sing pop.](http://catholicphilly.com/2017/02/news/world-news/for-members-of-siervas-ministry-spans-service-music-for-the-soul/) ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-soeur-sourire-the-singing-nun-has-any-cleric-or-member-of-a-religious-order-had-a-hit-song/781595/7 "2017-03-07T02:59:44Z")
Wiki tells me that Al Greene had his biggest charting hits before becoming a pastor. He continued to record after joining the clergy and collected some Grammys (Grammies?), but I don’t know how high his music charted. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-soeur-sourire-the-singing-nun-has-any-cleric-or-member-of-a-religious-order-had-a-hit-song/781595/8 "2017-03-07T03:08:07Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Wiki tells me that Al Greene had his biggest charting hits before becoming a pastor. I feel this somehow entitles me to mention the [Rev Richard Coles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Coles), ex-Communards member who AFAIK got out of the music business before being ordained so probably doesn’t count at all. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-soeur-sourire-the-singing-nun-has-any-cleric-or-member-of-a-religious-order-had-a-hit-song/781595/9 "2017-03-07T03:43:41Z")
Not a piece of commercial music but I’m pretty sure ordained Minister [Fred Rogers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Rogers)["Won’t You Be My Neighbor?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4nI7AgUKwk)" is more well known than all these other songs combined. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-soeur-sourire-the-singing-nun-has-any-cleric-or-member-of-a-religious-order-had-a-hit-song/781595/10 "2017-03-07T03:49:13Z")
The Montfort Mission aka The Mission, a folk singing group of Jesuits working in the inner city, put out several [major label albums in the 1960s](http://www.theancientstar-song.com/2010/05/montfort-mission/) and at least one minor hit out of them. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-soeur-sourire-the-singing-nun-has-any-cleric-or-member-of-a-religious-order-had-a-hit-song/781595/11 "2017-03-07T03:59:11Z")
Don’t forget the coolest dancing man on earth [Pastor Jason Alvarez](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Alvarez) [SHIRLEY & COMPANY - SHAME, SHAME, SHAME](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEJnK8nvlk4) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-soeur-sourire-the-singing-nun-has-any-cleric-or-member-of-a-religious-order-had-a-hit-song/781595/12 "2017-03-07T04:30:52Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Wiki tells me that Al Greene had his biggest charting hits before becoming a pastor. He continued to record after joining the clergy and collected some Grammys (Grammies?), but I don’t know how high his music charted. Richard Penniman (aka Little Richard) is another example of a singer who became a clergyman. But while he still performed (in fact, I’m not sure he’s officially retired although he hasn’t performed since 2013), his hits came before he was ordained. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-soeur-sourire-the-singing-nun-has-any-cleric-or-member-of-a-religious-order-had-a-hit-song/781595/13 "2017-03-07T04:38:07Z")
Richie Furay, who was in Buffalo Springfield with Stills and Young, then in Poco with Messina and a different Young, has been a pastor for quite a while. I asked a friend who’d been to his church and got this quip: “As a preacher, he’s a great musician.” ["His newest album, Hand in Hand, “could be from a Buffalo Springfield album”](http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/richie-furay-on-buffalo-springfield-life-as-a-pastor-and-solo-artist-20150422) (and would have, if he and Neil and Stephen had kept it up after headlining at Bonnaroo). ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-soeur-sourire-the-singing-nun-has-any-cleric-or-member-of-a-religious-order-had-a-hit-song/781595/14 "2017-03-07T08:11:02Z")
Father Ted Crilly and Father Dougal McGuire had a deal of success with their Eurovision entry “[my lovely horse](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzYzVMcgWhg)” but I believe copyright issues scuppered a wider release. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-soeur-sourire-the-singing-nun-has-any-cleric-or-member-of-a-religious-order-had-a-hit-song/781595/15 "2017-03-07T08:17:44Z")
Beat me to it! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-soeur-sourire-the-singing-nun-has-any-cleric-or-member-of-a-religious-order-had-a-hit-song/781595/16 "2017-03-07T09:20:50Z")
If we can count people who weren’t “in orders” at the time, [Peret](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=peret) is considered the father of Rumba Catalana (one of the “new _palos_”, or varieties, of flamenco) and eventually left music to become a pastor in the Iglesia Evangélica\*; he later returned to the scene. While [Juan Luis Guerra](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=juan+luis+guerra) is not ordained, he moved from the RCC to Evangelical protestantism and his songs reflect this. - mostly Spanish Roma who do not trust the RCC inasmuch as they identify it with The Man, they’ve taken some elements from Luther but are in many ways a lot closer to the Spanish RCC than to American Evangelics or to Swedish Lutherans. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-soeur-sourire-the-singing-nun-has-any-cleric-or-member-of-a-religious-order-had-a-hit-song/781595/17 "2017-03-07T11:22:19Z")
The Radha Krsna Temple had a couple of [hit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_40ZE4hlQg) (UK chart) [single](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y_A7bWMdHo)s from [their album](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Radha_Krsna_Temple_(album)). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-soeur-sourire-the-singing-nun-has-any-cleric-or-member-of-a-religious-order-had-a-hit-song/781595/18 "2017-03-07T13:01:44Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Richard Penniman (aka Little Richard) is another example of a singer who became a clergyman. But while he still performed (in fact, I’m not sure he’s officially retired although he hasn’t performed since 2013), his hits came before he was ordained. Came in here to mention Little Richard. He was ordained in 1970. While his biggest hits were before that, the did have some songs reach the [charts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Richard_discography#Singles) during and after that year. 3, possibly 4, made the top 100 US. I’m not sure if _Freedom Blues_ was released before or after his ordination. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-soeur-sourire-the-singing-nun-has-any-cleric-or-member-of-a-religious-order-had-a-hit-song/781595/19 "2017-03-07T13:10:04Z")
The [Rev. Richard Coles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Coles) was part of 80s pop duo [The Communards](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Communards) before taking holy orders. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-soeur-sourire-the-singing-nun-has-any-cleric-or-member-of-a-religious-order-had-a-hit-song/781595/20 "2017-03-07T13:10:16Z")
**Moderator Action** Moving thread from General Questions to Cafe Society. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-soeur-sourire-the-singing-nun-has-any-cleric-or-member-of-a-religious-order-had-a-hit-song/781595.md?page=2)