While his efforts were instrumental in shaping the sound and themes of contemporary Christian rock, Norman never enjoyed the commercial success or acceptance afforded to his musical descendants, admitting his sensibilities were "too secular for the Christians and too Christian for the secularists." Born in Corpus Christi, TX on April 8, 1947, Norman was raised in San Francisco. A devout follower of both Jesus Christ and Elvis Presley, he appeared on the CBS television variety series, The Original Amateur Hour, in 1959. In 1965 Norman co-founded the Bay Area psychedelic group People!, which a year later signed to Capitol and scored a minor hit with the single, "Organ Grinder." A subsequent cover of the Zombies' "I Love You" yielded a U.S. Top 20 entry and, in early 1968, the group began work on its debut LP. Norman left the group late in 1968 over differences relative to the album's title.

Capitol nevertheless agreed to release Norman's solo debut, 1969's Upon This Rock -- the album vaulted him to iconic status within the growing Jesus People counterculture movement but earned the scorn of the conservative Christian establishment. Because secular pop-radio wanted nothing to do with the album either, Capitol soon cut its ties with the singer. Norman resurfaced in 1972 on MGM, issuing the landmark Only Visiting This Planet, commonly cited among the most influential Christian rock records of all time. The first chapter in a three-album trilogy retelling the story of creation, the fall and redemption, it was followed by So Long Ago the Garden and In Another Land.

Upon leaving MGM in 1974, Norman founded his own Solid Rock Records imprint, releasing his own material as well as albums by Christian acts including Randy Stonehill, Mark Heard, and Daniel Amos. He was also instrumental in helping to launch The Vineyard, a Bible study program for musicians and actors that at one point welcomed Bob Dylan. Secular performers including Van Morrison, John Mellencamp and the Pixies' Black Francis later cited Norman as an influence as well. More than 300 artists have covered his songs, among them Sammy Davis, Jr.  

By the early '80s Norman's Capitol and MGM efforts were out of print, and as a thriving bootleg market mushroomed around his music, he formed a new label, Phydeaux Records in an attempt to regain control of his catalog. He issued more than a dozen new LPs in the decade to follow, a staggering number of them live releases and, while his productivity was never in question, his latter-day material was wildly uneven, often derivative of his most acclaimed records. Poor health dogged him and over time his behavior grew increasingly erratic.

Diagnosed with bipolar trauma, Norman often claimed he was drugged by the KGB during a 1988 tour of Russia and in 1992 he suffered a heart attack, spending the remainder of his life in and out of hospitals. In 1995 he was the subject of a tribute album, One Way: Songs of Larry Norman, which featured contributions from CCM superstars like dc Talk, Audio Adrenaline, and Rebecca St. James. In 2001, Norman also earned induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, entering alongside his boyhood idol Elvis. He officially retired that same year, although in June 2005 he returned long enough to play one final concert in Salem, OR, his home for more than two decades. A day after posting a message on his official website that he felt "like a prize in a box of Cracker Jacks with God's hand reaching down to pick me up," Norman died of heart failure on February 24, 2008 -- he was 60 years old. [ from Jason Ankeny's biography posted on All Music Guide ]