Famous Sons & Daughters of Preachers was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
1. Diggy Simmons
Diggy is the son of Rev. Run, the music legend who just so happens to be an ordained minister.
2. Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean’s father Rev. Gerard Jean, was a Nazarene pastor.
3. Phaedra Parks
Phaedra’s mother is a minister.
4. Kelis
Singer Kelis is the daughter of a Pentecostal minister.
5. Nat King Cole
Singer Nat King Cole was the son of a Baptist minister.
6. Denzel Washington
Actor Denzel Washington is the son of a Pentecostal preacher.
7. B.o.B.
B.o.B. said his dad was not too thrilled about his career choice especially since his dead is a preacher.
8. Arsenio Hall
Actor, comedian and talk show host Arsenio Hall is the son of a Baptist minister.
9. George Stephanopoulos
News correspondent George Stephanopoulos, his father is a Greek Orthodox priest and Dean Emeritus of the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York City.
10. Condoleezza Rice
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is the daughter of a Presbyterian minister.
11. James Baldwin
James Baldwin was raised by his stepfather who was a preacher and his novel Go Tell it on the Mountain relates to this.
12. Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke was one of eight children of Annie Mae and the Reverend Charles Cook, a Baptist minister.
13. Katy Perry
Pop singer Katy Perry is the daughter of Evangelical preachers. She began her career as a christian singer.
14. Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin is “The Queen of Soul” and the daughter of a Baptist minister.
15. The Jonas Brothers
Boy band the Jonas Brothers are the sons of former Assembly of God minister.
16. Smokie Norful
Grammy award-winning gospel artist Reverend W.R. “Smokie” Norful, Jr. followed in his father’s footsteps as the pastor of Victory Cathedral Church in Illinois.
17. The Pointer Sisters
The Pointer Sisters are the daughters of a Church of God minister.
18. Nina Simone
Nina Simone’s mother was a Methodist minister and as a girl, Nina played at her church.
19. Brandon T. Jackson
Actor & comedian Brandon T. Jackson, both of his parents are ministers.
20. Leona Mitchell
Leona Mitchell, an operatic soprano is the daughter of Reverend Dr. Hulon Mitchell.
21. Asafa Powell
Track & Field Sprinter, Asafa Powell’s parents are ministers and he plays for a church band.
22. Rhoda Scott
Jazz musician Rhoda Scott became interested in music at her father’s church where he was the minister.
23. Zane
Author of erotica fiction, Zane is the daughter of a minister.
24. Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s mother was an evangelist minister.
25. Jessica Simpson
Jessica Simpson is the daughter of a (former) Baptist Minister. I am assuming former after the highly publicized divorce from her mom where there were some interesting allegations against him.
26. Rapper k-os
Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer k-os is the son of a preacher. His dad ministers at two congregations in the Greater Toronto Area.
27. Alice Cooper
Rock musician Alice Cooper is the son of a preacher in the Church of Jesus Christ.
28. Huey Newton
Activist and Co-founder of the Black Panther Party Huey Newton, Co-founder of the Black Panther Party and the son of a sharecropper and Baptist lay preacher.
29. Hampton Hawes, Jr.
Hampton Hawes, Jr. was the son of a minister of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles. His mother, the former Gertrude Holman, was Westminster’s church pianist.
30. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. His father Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. had served as a pastor in Philadelphia and was the lead pastor at a Baptist church in New Haven.
31. Paul Robeson
Actor and activist Paul Robeson was the son of a pastor who eventually became the minister of Princeton’s Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in 1881.
32. Bernice Johnson
Singer, composer, scholar, and social activist Bernice Johnson is the daughter of Baptist minister.
33. James Carr
R&B / Soul singer James Carr was the son of a preacher. He began singing in church and performing in gospel groups before hitting the R&B circuit.
34. Tye Tribbett
Songwriter, record producer, music director & singer Tye Tribbett was raised in a Pentecostal Apostolic church in Camden, NJ. His father is a pastor and his mother is a minister as well as a well known disc jockey in the Philadelphia area.
35. Barbara Jordan
Politician and leader of the Civil Rights movement Barbara Jordan was the daughter of a Baptist Minister.
36. Soprano Helen Phillips
Soprano Helen L. Phillips broke though racial barriers as a concert singer. She was the daughter of a Baptist minister.
37. Jamal Bryant
Founder/Pastor of Empowerment Temple AME Church in Baltimore and author Jamal Harrison Bryant is the son of Bishop John Richard Bryant and Rev. Cecilia Williams-Bryant.
38. Elijah Muhammad
Religious leader who led the Nation of Islam for over four decades Elijah Muhammad was the son of a Baptist lay preacher and sharecropper.
39. Roots Manuva
English rapper, producer and re-mixer Roots Manuva is the son of a Pentecostal preacher.
