Dave Matthews

Recording Artist

A reader reports that it was the death of Matthews' sister that led to his loss of faith. As Matthews said in an interview (US Magazine, June 1998):

"I'm glad some people have that faith. I don't have that faith. If there is a God, a caring God, then we have to figure he's done an extraordinary job of making a very cruel world."

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Update (28-May-01): Matthews has been moved from 'ambiguous' to 'agnostic' as a result of this recent quote from the March 4, 2001 edition of the Boston Globe in an article entitled "Dave Matthews gets serious - and playful" by Steve Morse:

"He crystallizes his thoughts on God in the rocking 'What You Are,' with the verse, 'Hoping to God on high is like clinging to straws while drowning. ... Oh, realize what you are!'

"'It would be safe to say that I'm agnostic,' Matthews says. 'However, I do feel as though we owe a faith to the world and to ourselves. We owe a grace and gratitude to things that have brought us here. But I think it's very ignorant to say, `Well, for everything, God has a plan.' That's like an excuse. ... Maybe the real faithful act is to commit to something, to take action, as opposed to saying, `Well, everything is in the hand of God.'"