Multiple men have accused Michael Tait, former frontman for the contemporary Christian band Newsboys, of grooming and assaulting them as young men.
The allegations are the fruit of a two-and-a-half year investigation published by The Roys Report. Although no formal charges have been brought against Tait, the published allegations come from multiple sources.
The Roys Report said it reached out to Tait repeatedly and got no response.
An attorney for the Newsboys told The Roys Report: “While we are aware of unsubstantiated aspersion cast via internet toward Mr. Tait and Newsboys by one particular individual, because your questions revolve around the alleged behavior and actions of Mr. Tait, it would be inappropriate for Newsboys to speculate or comment. If what you allege can be supported with evidence, I would imagine Mr. Tait and his representatives will have something to say about the matter.”
The three survivors whose interviews are prevalent throughout the story have been anonymized as “Steven,” who first met Tait in 2010, “Taylor,” who first met him in 2013, and “Phillip,” who first met him in 2004. The men say they were abused in isolated scenarios and only later did they discover there were multiple survivors.
All were music artists attempting to build their careers in the Christian music industry when they met Tait on the tour circuit.
All were music artists attempting to build their careers in the Christian music industry when they met Tait on the tour circuit. Steven, Taylor and Phillip looked up to Tait as a powerful figure in the music industry at the time and hoped a relationship with him would be beneficial for their careers. Looking back, they now view these relationships as grooming efforts.
Each of the men were 22 at the time, and although they were significantly younger than Tait, the survivors and other close sources say Tait showed particular interest in building friendships with them.
They also said Tait and others in the Christian music industry seemed to drink alcohol prolifically. Steven and Taylor told The Roys Report, “They were drinking alcohol with Tait and later woke to him fondling their genitals.” Each of the men recall becoming heavily incapacitated prior to their first experiences of abuse.
Steven claimed his experience of abuse occurred in Tait’s family home, where he fell asleep on the couch after Tait served him alcohol. He woke to Tait fondling his genitals and kissing his mouth, but the abuse stopped once he moved his head. Steven says he left the house early in the morning because “he needed to get me out the door before the kids started waking up for school.”
In addition to alcohol use, Taylor claimed Tait offered him cocaine as he was going to sleep following a night of heavy drinking, which he refused but is unsure if Tait used. Intoxicated, Taylor went to sleep and said he woke up to the abuse happening. It stopped once Taylor moved his body to express to Tait that he was awake.
Both Taylor and Phillip say their abuse was preceded by Tait giving them massages.
Phillip, who did not drink alcohol for religious reasons, says he was abused while spending the night at Tait’s home following a gathering with the artist’s friends including skinny dipping, which he participated in. As friends left, Phillip says Tait began massaging his back. Phillip and other sources say they this behavior was not atypical in comparison to other gatherings with Christian musicians, which sometimes included alcohol and nudity.
Phillip also says Tait showed him his penis and made unprompted comments about the size of his urethra after the two were alone.
They shared a bed when they went to sleep, a choice Phillip was initially comfortable with after living in close quarters with bandmates on tours. However, Tait began massaging him more intimately, eventually groping his butt cheeks. Initially afraid to offend or anger Tait, Phillip was unsure of what to do until Tait “put his fingers in his anal region,” causing Phillip to speak up. This ended the encounter.
Phillip says Tait was gone when he woke up, and despite attempts to reach out to him, never heard from the artist again.
In contrast, both Steven and Taylor say they maintained somewhat of a relationship to Tait after their alleged experiences of abuse.
All three men say they did not recognize their experiences as sexual assault until later in life but instead considered the behavior part of Tait’s struggle with homosexuality. Speculations about him being gay have circulated in the media before, although Tait has answered the question. Discussing the abuse with others, they believed at the time, would have outed Tait, although both Phillip and Taylor disclosed these experiences to their romantic partners.
Tait, now 59, met Toby McKeehan in 1984 when he was in high school. They both met Kevin Max at Liberty University in the late 1980s. The trio formed four-time Grammy winning band DC Talk.
After a hiatus in 2000, Tait launched a solo career before becoming lead singer of Newsboys from 2009 to 2025. He announced on Jan. 16 he would step down from Newboys.