Non-Christian Band “Lamb of God” Accepts Christian Award from Joel Osteen-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
Televangelist Joel Osteen presented a Christian rock award to the death metal band Lamb of God, which is not a Christian band despite its misleading name.
The Truth:
The rumor that Lamb of God accepted a Christian rock award from Joel Osteen started with a fake news website.
The website, Heavier Metal, reported Joel Osteen’s supposed Christian rock blunder in an article that appeared under the headline, “Lamb of God Accepts Award From Pastor Joel Osteen Who Didn’t Know They’re Not A Christian Band.” The story reports:
Lamb of God, who was previously named ‘Burn the Priest’, accepted the “excellence in faith outreach” award from mega-church pastor Joel Osteen, who judging by their name, believed the band to be a Christian band. It was obvious by those in attendance that Osteen was not familiar with the group, having referred to them as a ‘well known country band’.
Randy Blythe and the rest of his bandmates apparently wanted to see if they could get away with accepting the award unbeknownst to the mega church pastor and it went off without a hitch.
Osteen praised Lamb of God for “spreading the good word” and sharing “good christian values” in his speech when presenting the band (who performs ‘Walk With Me In Hell’) with the award at his church.
The story was quickly shared on Facebook nearly 15,000 times, and many readers were duped into believing that the report was true — but that’s not the case.
Heavier Metal subtly identifies itself as a non-trustworthy news source by disclosing in its About page that “We often break news stories several years before anyone else reports them, thus sometimes causing some to have a difficult time accepting the truth.”
But like many fake news stories, this one has at least a kernel of truth. Lamb of God has been mistakenly identified as a Christian rock band in the past because its misleading name. When the band appeared on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in 2015, Lamb of God was mistakenly identified as Christian rock in TV Guide listings, Team Rock reports:
Lamb Of God drummer Chris Adler has poked fun at a US TV guide that described his band as “Christian heavy metal.”
They appeared on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live last night (Thursday) and performed 512 and Still Echoes from latest album VII: Sturm Und Drang. See the clips below.
Earlier in the day, Adler discovered the listing while preparing to record the broadcast. The guide read: “An interview with actor Pierce Brosnan from No Escape; actor Rami Malek from Mr Robotvisits the show; a performance by the Christian heavy metal band Lamb Of God.“
The drummer posted a on Facebook, saying: “So… will you be watching? #LambOfGod on #JimmyKimmel tonight.” He later added: “Wonder who wrote that copy, they’ll be in for a surprise, ya think?”
So, its not true that Joel Osteen awarded Lamb of God a Christian rock award — but the band’s name has caused confusion in the past.