While the offer promised financial stability for the struggling Swaggart family, he turned it down, firmly believing that he was called to preach the gospel rather than pursue a music career.

His cousin, Jerry Lee Lewis, was already signed with Sun and earning an impressive $20,000 per week. In an intriguing twist of fate, Swaggart received an offer from Sun Records producer Sam Phillips to become the label’s first gospel artist. Unable to afford a home, they found shelter in church basements, pastors’ houses, and small motels. They lived on a meagre income of $30 a week, equivalent to around $310 in today’s terms. In his autobiography, “To Cross a River,” Swaggart revealed the poverty they endured while he travelled across rural Louisiana, preaching the gospel. Life was far from easy for the Swaggart family in the 1950s. They welcomed their son, Donnie, into the world, and Swaggart worked several odd jobs to provide for his young family while sharing his talent for Southern Gospel music at various churches. He would accompany his father, who served as the pastor of the Assembly of God Church in Wisner, playing music during church services. Even in their early years, Swaggart’s passion for preaching and music was evident. Growing up in this vibrant musical and religious environment, Swaggart’s destiny seemed to be taking shape.Īt the tender age of 17, Swaggart married Frances Anderson, whom he met in church in the town of Wisner, Louisiana. Notably, he shared a close kinship with his cousin, rockabilly pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis, and country music star Mickey Gilley. Swaggart’s upbringing was intertwined with a web of family connections and relationships. Born into a family deeply rooted in music and Pentecostal preaching, Swaggart’s childhood was influenced by the melodies of his fiddle-playing father, Willie Leon Swaggart, and the spiritual teachings of his mother, Minnie Bell Herron. Swaggart, a renowned American evangelist, was born on March 15, 1935, in the small town of Ferriday, Louisiana.

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