Jennifer Lynn Knapp (born April 12, 1974) is an American-Australian[1] folk rock and contemporary Christian music singer-songwriter, author, and LGBTQ advocate.

Knapp has called her childhood "difficult" and "abusive" due in part to her parents' acrimonious divorce and her father's remarriage.

[6][7][4] With the encouragement of her new friends, Knapp began writing her own Christian music and performing locally as much as possible.

Her second album, Wishing Well, attracted the attention of Christian producer TobyMac, who signed her to Gotee Records.

[8] Kansas (1998), Knapp's critically acclaimed studio debut, eventually sold over 500,000 copies, becoming Gold-certified by the RIAA.

[10] She also contributed vocals to Audio Adrenaline's cover of "It Is Well with My Soul",[11] and an early studio version of “A Little More” from Lay It Down was featured on Sparrow Records' Listen Louder (1999).

At the 1999 Lilith Fair,[12] she joined the Indigo Girls and Sarah McLachlan on stage to sing “Closer To Fine”, a performance she has referred to as her favorite concert experience.

[3] In addition to writing and performing music, Knapp co-founded an artist management company, Alabaster Arts, with business partner Steve Thomas.

[17] That year she headlined a national "Christian heavyweight" tour with Third Day, who observed that Knapp helped attract a larger and broader audience for their concerts.

[29] The Way I Am reached #10 on the Christian music charts and #130 on the Billboard 200;[19] it was nominated for a 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album but lost to Third Day.

[2] Over the course of her Christian music career, Knapp grew increasingly disillusioned with the conservative views of the industry, particularly its emphasis on purity culture and evangelism[33][34] and its scrutiny of her faith and behavior.

[25] In her memoir, Knapp describes this decision leading to conflict with her business partner at Alabaster Arts; after a legal battle, she lost her shares and was required to pay a percentage of her income to the company.

[14] On September 10, 2002, Knapp played the last concert of her Christian music career in Abilene, Texas, and subsequently went on hiatus,[38] eventually moving to Australia.

Her lead guitarist at the time, Mark Lee Townsend, had originally recorded the tracks as a tour memento but lost the tapes.

[50] In interviews with Christianity Today, Reuters, and The Advocate that were simultaneously published on April 13, 2010, Knapp announced that she is gay and has been in a relationship with a woman since 2002.

[25] A few weeks later, the controversy surrounding her coming out was featured on an episode of Larry King Live, where Knapp appeared with Pastor Bob Botsford and Ted Haggard.

[72] Knapp referred to the album as "my deepest look at love yet"[73] and said that the musical style was less folk rock than she had originally expected.

[37][39] In her memoir, Knapp describes becoming close friends with and eventually falling in love with her road manager, Karen, while she was a Christian music star.

[88][89] When Knapp first came out in 2010, she stated: "I'm in no way capable of leading a charge for some kind of activist movement"[25][2] and "I’m not at all interested in personally being the one who is advocating.

[71] In an interview with The Advocate, she stated: "I don't have any particular wisdom other than the experience that I've got ... but telling our stories is one of the most important and powerful things we can do.

"[71] To that end, Knapp launched Inside Out Faith, through which she speaks at churches and universities about her experiences as a gay Christian.

[71][91] Knapp's memoir, Facing the Music: My Story, was published by Howard Books / Simon & Schuster on October 7, 2014.

[93][94] Howard's VP and Publisher, Jonathan Merkh, stated that he hoped the book would help readers "understand where someone may be coming from as they open up about their sexuality and their faith.