Earlier this week, Steve Taylor, former Newsboys producer and songwriter, shared his take on the Michael Tait scandal with Christianity Today’s Mike Cosper.
Editor’s note: This article refers to reports of alleged sexual assault that some readers might find triggering and/or disturbing.
On Jan. 16, Tait abruptly announced that he was leaving Newsboys. He had been the band’s lead singer since 2009. Tait was previously a member of DC Talk, a band that has been on hiatus since 2000.
Since leaving Newsboys, Tait has been accused of grooming, sexually assaulting, and drugging young men—including minors—as well as of watching a young woman be raped in 2014.
After producing three albums for Newsboys, Taylor started his own Christian record label, Squint Entertainment. Taylor’s record label helped jumpstart the careers of bands Chevelle, Sixpence None the Richer, and Burlap to Cashmere.
Taylor started working with the Newsboys in the early 90s after being introduced to band cofounder Peter Furler. Taylor wrote for and produced Newsboys’ iconic album “Not Ashamed,” which made them a household name. Taylor worked on Newsboys’ next two albums, “Going Public” and “Take Me to Your Leader.” He later rejoined the band to produce “Thrive” and “Adoration: The Worship Album.”
“I never saw any hint of any kind of weirdness or impropriety or anything like that,” Taylor told Cosper. “They were big practical jokers. They loved to race go-karts or go to paintball things. They loved all that kind of stuff. And even though I’ve not had as much contact with them, I still hold them in high regard.”
Taylor never worked with Newsboys while Tait fronted the band. Taylor said that after Furler left the band and Tait joined, the sound of Newsboys “shifted from kind of a interesting, quirky, kind of Euro rock pop to an American sounding band.”
RELATED: Michael Tait Accused of Watching Sexual Assault of a Young Woman He Drugged
Cosper asked Taylor to share his reaction to the sexual abuse allegations surrounding Tait.
“How does this sit for you?” Cosper asked. “Is this just the industry for people who actually live here? Is this like, no alarms and no surprises? Or is this like, this is a shock?”
“I found it very, very distressing,” Taylor responded, praising The Roys Report for publishing the work of Jessica Morris. Morris’ report came after more than two years of investigation.
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