Former Rock Star Tour Manager Kelly K Shares About His Near-Death Accident, Coming to Christ, His New Book & More

Highly sought-after conference speaker, bestselling author and social media evangelist Kelly K is in the final stages of finishing his book, Think About THAT for a Minute! Vol. 2: 40 Day Devotional for a Fresh Perspective, which is slated to be independently released before Christmas. The devotional follows the remarkable, 30,000-plus copies sold of the author's first volume of the book after it was revealed on his socials in March of this year. Sharing the hope of the gospel though "I bet you didn't know" type stories, Kelly K works to bridge culture, generational and societal gaps by offering a message of love, faith, joy and hope in Jesus Christ.

Before coming to faith in Jesus, Kelly K was part of the management team for Nickelback, Richard Marx, Stryper, Candlebox, Wang Chung and many others, as well as stage-managed the Warped Tour. After a near death car crash while out on tour with RED, Kelly gave up everything and turned to Jesus. Never looking back, he has been in full time ministry for 10 years, traveling the world with a different purpose: to see the lives of everyone he encounters changed through the reckless love and amazing grace of Jesus.

Q: Kelly K, thanks for doing this interview with us. How did you first become part of the management team for artists such as Nickelback, Richard Marx, Stryper, Candlebox, Wang Chung, and many others?

I am absolutely honored! Thank you so much! That is actually a really long story! But to answer as short as possible, I was in a band that was WILDLY mediocre... My band never made it but I met a few guys who were managers in the industry during that time and when my band fell apart, I started calling them every single day asking for a job! They told me "NO" every day for 6 months! Finally, my lease was up on my apartment and I made my daily call again, but this time I said I was coming no matter what and I was gonna work for them for free! I knew if I could just get my foot in the door, they would see I could handle the job. They agreed and I sold all I had, and hitchhiked to Texas where their office was. One of the managers let me sleep on his couch and I started working for them every day for free. 3 months later they hired me as an assistant and 3 months after that I was on the road as a tour manager! Dreams do come true! Haha

Q: Having worked with so many artists, do you have a memorable story to share in your interactions with any one of them?

I could share SO MANY stories! I have funny stories, crazy stories you wouldn't believe, and even some pretty emotional stories... However, the one I'll share with you today happened last summer on the Lost 80s LIVE! Tour. There is about 18 bands on this tour, all who had huge hits in the 80s. Like "Flock of Seagulls," "Tommy Tutone," "The Romantics," "Stacy Q," etc. 

I was Tour Managing Wang Chung and I was sitting on the stage waiting for our turn to sound check. The artist on stage was sound checking at the time, (I won't mention her name since I didn't ask her approval to tell this story) and I heard her say, "My arm hurts so bad I may not be able to go on tonight." Then I noticed she had a brace on her arm. Without even thinking about what I was saying, I looked at her and said, Jesus can heal your arm right now if you want..." Sometimes I forget when I'm on tour, I'm the only Christian out there! It's defiantly a mission field! She looked at me wide eyed and said, "WHAT?!"

So, I told her I would pray for her arm and I knew that Jesus would heal her and she wouldn't have any more pain. She told me, "If you think it'll work, go ahead!" So I started to pray.... I only got out the word Jesus and she started crying instantly! She said, "I don't know what's happening to me!" I told her that was the Holy Spirit! I kept on praying and thanked God for healing her arm and INSTANTLY she was COMPLETELY healed! She never wore that arm brace again for the rest of the tour! It was such an amazing moment! And every day after that, when she would see me backstage, she would give me a big hug and thank me for healing her! Which I would reply to her every single time... I didn't heal you! JESUS DID! I still believe that was the seed that needed to be planted that will lead to her salvation very soon!

I also had to stop Jared Leto mid-sentence while telling me a story one time because his eyes were too captivating for me to pay attention to what he was saying... He just told me, "It's ok, I get that a lot." Hahaha

Q: You were also involved in a near-death accident, what happened?

I was on tour with the Christian rock band RED during the End of Silence tour as their Tour Manager. We had been renting a tour bus and had just made the purchase of our own bus. We dropped off the rented Prevo in Nashville and had to do 2 shows in North Carolina before picking up our new bus back in Nashville.

So, we were traveling in a 15-passenger van for those 2 shows. On our way back to Nashville from North Carolina, we were about 20mins from completing our 12-hour drive. It was right around 6am and I was asleep on the back seat of the van. A construction company had left a guard rail overlapping by about a foot over the line on the highway. Cars were having to swerve around it. Being 6am morning traffic, as our driver came up on the guard rail, he couldn't swerve because of a car next to us. So he hit it going 70mph. It tore the side of the van apart like a can of soup! While asleep, I came sliding out of the hole in the side of the van. I woke up sliding down the highway on my back at 70mph.

I woke up to the most pain I'd ever been in in my life. I literally thought I was on fire! There are many details on how God spared my life that day I would like to share if this reply wasn't so long already! I spent the next 3 months in and out of a burn center and that ended my touring days for the next 12 years. However, this was the first event that put me back on the right path to giving my life back to Jesus. Had this crash not have happened, I definitely wouldn't be where I am today! 

Q: How, then, did you come to meet Christ?

I actually grew up in a very Godly home! I don't ever remember NOT knowing who God was! I'm very grateful to my parents for that. I was baptized in the Spirit when I was 9-years-old and I experienced a radical healing at age 10. However, in my late teen years I became more passionate about rock and roll and all that came with it rather than my relationship with God. I pretty much completely walked away from God at age 20 and gave all of myself to the rock and roll lifestyle. I never stopped believing in God, I always knew He was real, and I knew I was called to be a preacher, but that's not what I wanted at the time, so my focus became all about me instead of God. It wasn't until the crash that I started to turn my attention back to Him.

Then when I was about 30-years-old, I started to hear God remind me almost daily, " I still have a plan for you. I've called you to be a preacher." And one day I finally said, "Ok God, if you want me so bad, come get me. I'll open my heart to you, but I'm not changing anything! Every time I try and live for you, I fail!" Not a prayer I recommend.... But it worked! The very next day when I woke up it seemed like all my desires changed literally over night! I just wanted to be in the Bible, or listening to sermons or worship! I didn't wanna talk the same anymore. I wanted to go to church. I just wanted all of God I could get! It was one of the craziest moments of my life! It's been 10 years since that happened and I'm happy to say, the passion has only grown stronger! 10 years later I'm a full time traveling evangelist, pastor and author, and I don't plan to stop anytime soon! 

Q: Tell us more about your current ministry as an evangelist.

Currently, I'm the associate pastor at Limitless Church in Kingfisher, OK and a full time traveling evangelist. However, my main focus is on social media. I see that as the biggest mission field on earth! We can reach people all over the world from anywhere at all by simply filming a video with our phones! So, every single day I leverage social media for ministry by doing exactly that. I try and find ways to teach the Bible that ANYONE can relate with. I teach on topics that may be a little too controversial at times for church pulpits, to simple Bible studies just to help people get into their Bibles daily. Since starting this a year ago now last December, I have seen THOUSANDS of people give their life to Jesus or come back to Him, dozens healed physically, and even more healed mentally and spiritually! All because of a 5-min video on TikTok! How good is our God?! 

Q: What prompted you to write your new devotional book?

You know, I never intended to write a devotional. I had already written 2 books and I was ready to start my 3rd and I asked God, "What do YOU want me to write about?" And I heard Him very clearly tell me, "Kelly, your words won't change anyone. But MINE will. Feed my sheep." Then I remember Psalms 1 that says if we meditate on God's word day and night, we will prosper in every season of our life! But if you look around, I don't see many Christians prospering! We seem beat up and burned out more than anything else. The reason is, we live in the most Biblically illiterate generation of all time. So many people never even open their Bibles! So, I decided to write a book just explaining a scripture every day for 40 days, using fresh perspectives and analogies to help get across the message. I chose 40 days because the goal is to get you into a habit of reading the Bible every day without even realizing that's what you're doing! And based off of THOUSANDS of reviews, it's working! I love how when you do what God tells you, no matter how ridiculous it may seem at the moment, it's always a great success! So, the new book that's coming out now is a follow up. It's Volume 2 of the "Think about THAT for a minute" series. I mean, if it's not broken.... Don't fix it! 

Q: How do you hope this book will impact the lives of our readers?

I pray that this new book will continue to help people get into God's Word daily and really THINK about it! Because I know that if they will just mediate on God's Word (think about it), they will start to prosper in every season of their life! And that's not a promise from ME, but from God himself! I pray it sets a fire in the hearts of those who have been burnt out, and I pray it shines a light in the dark for those who don't know Jesus as their personal lord and Savior yet. Ultimately, I want this book to be a tool that ANYONE can use to help grow and develop their walk with God. James 4 tells us if we draw close to God, God will draw close to us! But notice... The first step is on US! That what this book is designed to do... help people draw close to God! Because that's the best place they could ever be! 

For all the latest Kelly K book, speaking, daily posts, video sermons, Bible studies and more details, go to www.kellykministries.com, Linktree, Amazon.com, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. 

 

 

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