Mylon LeFevre
By: Triston Wright
Question: How did Mylon's life change through out the years?
Information
Mylon R. LeFevre was born on October 6, 1944. Mylon spent time in a reform school and had been kicked out of private school. During this time in his life, Mylon was already getting a reputation for being a good songwriter. In 1962 Mylon graduated from High School. At age 19 Mylon had arranged and produced his first solo album. Mylon's big break came when he was 17 years old. The first song he had written entitled "Without Him" was recorded by Elvis Presley in 1963. A year later 126 other albums came out with that song on it. At the time Mylon was in the Army and was making $84 a month. But after the success of Without HIm being recorded Mylon would receive $90,000 in just three months. Mylon went out and did some recording with a group of musicians which would later be known as the Atlanta Rythym Section. This was Mylon's first attempt at blending gospel music with Southern Rock. This album was entitled "Mylon, We Believe" and was released by Cotillion in 1969/70. When Mylon was 25, he finally left his father's group due to strains and differences over music and Mylon being told to "get his hair cut". Mylon signed a record deal with Atlantic Records. Mylon soon formed a band called "The Holy Smoke Doo Dah Band". They began playing Jesus rock for top secular bands. He started taking drugs and drifting further and further away from his roots and from reality. Mylon was probably one of the first to try to fuze Christian music with Rock'n'roll, but it wasn't working for him. Mylon was urged and pressured from management and media to dump the religous stuff from his act. Mylon's drug use escalated and he continued to experience more success in rock. In 1973 Mylon had over a million record sales and he was being treated as a star. But while touring in the south of France, Mylon overdosed and his heart had stopped beating. After receiving medical attention, Mylon woke up 28 hours later. Because of the length of time that Mylon had not been breathing he suffered some brain damage. He suffered from memory loss and couldn't even remember the lyrics to some of the songs he had written. In Mylon's words "suddenly it was all over, I had wrecked my hopes and drugged away my dreams."3 Mylon had some sense to realize that he had made some mistakes and started reading a Gideon Bible that he had picked up in his travels. Mylon's life was a wreck. He was 6'-1" and weighed 137 pounds. He had developed bleeding ulcers at age 27. So Mylon committed himself to a drug treatment program that year. Seven months later, towards the end of 1973, Mylon came out clean. In the late 70's Mylon's dad retired from the gospel music circuit. Mylon's father had always been a performer of Christian music, yet to him it was more of a way to make a living. He wasn't really religious. But finally in his later years he decided to straighten out his own life with God and try to patch things up with Mylon. Mylon saw his dad become a true Christian and it began to impact him. Mylon's dad became very sick with cancer and through love and visiting between Mylon and his father, Mylon began his transformation. One night after leaving his dad at the hospital Mylon went home and prayed "Lord, if you can take my daddy, who has been such a jerk to me, and change him like that, I don't want to wait until I'm old and dying. I want you to change my life now. Don't let this be a disappointment. I want you to really be God."The whole time that Mylon was in the program, there was a quote from the Bible that he couldn't shake from his mind. He remembered it like this, "God's Spirit will not always strive with men." Mylon for the most part had always tried to be a Christian, but up until now it had not been working. guys involved in that Bible Study became apart of the band that Mylon would form in 1981 called Broken Heart. In 1982 Mylon and his new band 'Broken Heart'started recording and began touring and ministering to kids. The band's name "Broken Heart" was taken from Psalm 51:17 which states:" The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God you will not despise." In May of 1982 Mylon released the album "Brand New Start". Over the next 10 years Mylon and Broken Heart would see more than 200,000 kids come to know Jesus as Savior and Lord.Mylon and Broken Heart would be featured in concerts, new media reports, Christian TV Programs, and radio interviews. Mylon truly had seen God do some amazing things with his life. But more was to come. Though Mylon knew Jesus as his Savior and Lord, he was unsure about Jesus as healer of his body. He had struggled with the question of whether it was God's will to always heal. He was able to continue on in ministry avoiding that issue until one fateful day in August of 1989.
Resources
"About Mylon." Mylon Le Fevre Ministries . N.p.. Web. <http://www.mylon.org>.