Janet Mead Australian nun (1938-2022)

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Janet Mead Find a Grave

She was best known for her rock version of “The Lord’s Prayer,” which hit it big on the U.S. music charts in 1973. She entered the convent in 1955 after attending St Aloysius College (SAC), a Catholic school in Adelaide. She also attended the Adelaide Conservatorium, where she studied piano.

She rose to fame in Australia after her Rock Masses, recorded at Adelaide’s St Francis Xavier cathedral, came to the attention of Festival Records. Her 1973 recording of “The Lord’s Prayer” shot up the charts and went on to sell 2m copies and be distributed in 31 countries.

The song peaked at No 3 on the Australian singles chart and No 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. She went on to donate all the earnings from the hit to charity. She also produced multiple plays, liturgies and more than 20 musicals, and also ran the SAC orchestra for many years.

She was named South Australian of the Year in 2004. She was also recognized for her services to Australian Christian music and given the Golden Gospel Award.

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Janet Mead Australian Nun Full Biography

Janet Mead was an Australian Catholic nun who was best known for recording a pop-rock version of “The Lord’s Prayer”. The surprise hit reached Number 3 on the Australian singles chart (Kent Music Report) in 1974 and Number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the same year. The single earned her a Grammy Award nomination and Golden Gospel Award in 2004. It sold over one and a half million copies and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA on 8 April 1974. It was also certified gold in Australia.

Mead became the second woman to have a top 10 single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart whilst a nun. Sister Luc-Gabrielle (Jeanine Deckers), aka “Sœur Sourire” and “the Singing Nun”, had a Number 1 pop hit in 1963 with “Dominique”.



Mead taught music at St Aloysius College, Adelaide, where the music video for “The Lord’s Prayer” was filmed. After recording, Mead continued to visit the school to teach the junior students basic music.

Janet Mead  (1938-2022) Australian nun Life and career

Mead was born in Adelaide in 1938. She formed a band simply called The Rock Band when she was 17 to provide music for the weekly Mass at her local church. She studied piano at the Adelaide Conservatorium before joining the Sisters of Mercy order and became a music teacher at two local Catholic schools. She began to explore the “Rock Mass” concept in the early 1970s, desiring to make the Mass more interesting and accessible for her students. This led to a successful series of “Rock Masses” which she held at St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral, Adelaide.

Mead began making professional recordings of her music for schools and churches in 1973. Later that year, she went to Sydney for a recording session with Festival Records produced by Martin Erdman.

Festival asked her to record a cover of the Donovan song “Brother Sun, Sister Moon” which had been written for the soundtrack of the Franco Zeffirelli film of the same name, but Martin Erdman wanted to record a rock arrangement of “The Lord’s Prayer” to serve as the B-side and so a one-hit wonder was born. The single became the first Australian recording to sell over one million copies in the United States, earning a gold record award for Mead and Martin Erdman. Mead donated her share of the royalties to charity while Festival Records used their portion of the proceeds to refit one of their studios.

The success of the single led to the recording of an album, With You I Am, which hit No. 19 in July 1974. Her second album, A Rock Mass, was a complete recording of one of her now famous Rock Masses. She slipped onto the United States’ charts once more with the follow-up single, “Take My Hand”, but never approached the success of her debut.



Mead resisted the call to continue her pop career, despite intense media interest. She described the record’s success as a “horrible time” in her life – worldwide success brought a pressure that led her to question her faith. Her third album, recorded in 1983, was filed away in the Festival vaults after Mead withdrew from the public eye. The tapes were rediscovered by Martin Erdman and some tracks, including a new version of “The Lord’s Prayer”, were included on the 1999 album A Time To Sing. The album was released as part of the 25th anniversary celebrations of the hit single.

Mead did not abandon her love of music and performance and returned to the arts in the 21st century. In October 2001, she directed the Romero Company’s annual production at the Melbourne Trades Hall Auditorium, an inventive adaptation by Damien Mead of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables.

In 2004, Mead received the Yamaha Golden Gospel Award in recognition of her services to Australian Christian music at the Australian Gospel Music Awards in Canberra. Martin Erdman also received the Yamaha Golden Gospel Award concurrently and presented a short feature film, Sister Janet Mead, at these awards which were co-ordinated by the Australian Gospel Music Association.

Also in 2004, Mead was named South Australian of the Year for her care of the homeless.

Mead also recorded a record with the conservative charismatic religious movement known as the Romero Community.

Janet Mead Australian Nun Death

Mead died from cancer in Adelaide on 26 January 2022 at the age of 83.

Janet Mead  (1938-2022) Australian nun