Anybody seeing Jonathan Butler today would not realize that he grew up under extreme conditions of poverty under the shadow of Apartheid. As a youngster growing up in South Africa, life was difficult for Jonathan.
"As a kid, as like most kids, you know, whether you grew up in the ghetto, whether you grew up in a mansion, you're a kid, you want to go out to play, but, it's the uncertainties that the day brings that affects your life forever," Butler said. "On any given day we didn't know whether we were going to eat. My mother would go to work. She was probably the only person I saw consistently working, because everybody else were musicians or they were just flaky and my house was pretty much chaotic, purely that way. I'm being nice about it."
Jonathan's mother struggled, and his father never worked due to illness. "I just wanted to help. And I knew -- I knew singing was in my heart, but I never wanted to show nobody," Butler said.
Jonathan's father gave him a present that changed his life: a handmade one-string guitar.
"It was called Sunbeam Floor Polish can, it was kind of nice and hollow," Butler said. There was always a guitar in Jonathan's the family, yet he was never able to play with it because it was his oldest brother's guitar, and his father played banjo. "It really changed my life," Butler said. "I sang for my friends a lot, for the gangsters. They loved the Butlers because they would send us to go buy them food and-and we'd get some of the food as long as I would sing them a song."
Jonathan recalls sitting by the bonfire every night to in order to keep warm. Everybody would sing and take turns expressing themselves.
"One day I just opened my mouth in-in front of everybody and my parents said, 'Okay, we're gonna start putting you in variety shows.' I remember the classic story, I'll never forget the first time I sang, it was a song called "Delilah" by Tom Jones. I sang halfway, I got on my knees with the microphone, people went crazy."
Just like Tom Jones people threw money on the stage as he sang. "In the middle of the song I picked up my money and left." Butler said. "I figured, well, I know… I now know I have a future in showbiz."
Jonathan has performed with some of the biggest names in the music industry, and is coming out with a gospel music album entitled "Brand New Day".
"It's been years in the making," Butler said. "I've just been waiting on the Lord for years, and when I mean waiting I don't mean sitting around. In prayer, through study, as a disciple, just waiting for the Lord to release me."
Butler began making Christian records after hearing from God because he knew was where the anointing would be. "I didn't want to be, "I'm gonna do it anyway," you know. I wanted the Lord to release me and to -- and to give me that peace of mind," Butler said. "I've always been in the behind-the-scenes part of the body of Christ, but everybody sees you as a jazz musician in the secular world. We talk about Victory Church in London and pastors that I know, and so I've always been discipled along the way and I believe God has just been preparing me for-for this day that I'm in right now."
Jonathan reflects on how he has maintained his Christian faith within a secular environment.
"When I was younger it was probably a little more difficult because I was hectically on the road all the time. When our children were very small, I was touring with Whitney, I was touring with Eric Clapton and the- touring schedules were so tough," Butler said. "Every day you're in another hotel room, you're on the bus, and it was really crazy to find that, but I remembered nights in the hotel room on my knees praying for deliverance, praying for healing, praying for forgiveness, asking for mercy, asking for strength, and that God would hold me and encamp around me."
Butler continues- "It was those prayers that I believe God remembers, and it was those prayers that kept me through.
Jonathan also found the strength to declare who he was to people without being ashamed, and without holding back. After a while people knew that Jonathan was saved.
"I sing about the Lord, even in jazz concerts I sign about Christ," Butler said. "I'm amazed that the promoters book me because I always declare Jesus, you know, so it's amazing."
Jonathan performs at a cruise every year and every year he is requested to do a Gospel Hour on Sunday.
Besides his musical career, Jonathan has experience success in his home life. He has been married for 25 years, and he credits his marriage to prayers.
"My wife, Beverly, is a quiet faith woman and I love her to death," Butler said. "She's kept me, you know, she made a huge impact in my life and still to-to this day, gave me a better sense of myself."
Check out http://www.jonathanbutler.com for more information on Jonathan Butler.
