Jan Sparring (1930 - 1992) was a Swedish christian singer with a background in opera. During his childhood he lived in different children's homes and youth care centres after his father had died. When his mother married a new man, Jan could live with them. But he was often beaten up by his stepfather and the safe home he had longed for was nowhere to be found. In his teens he was introduced to drugs, alcohol and, to some extent, criminality. This eventually led to some time in youth prison. Some years later he straightened up his life. He got married and became father to three children.

Jan had developed a great interest in music and was contracted by the Royal Swedish opera and had several leading roles e.g. Figaro in "The wedding of Figaro". He was very successful but started using drugs and alcohol to repress the pain due to his tough childhood and other circumstances. In 1961 he became a christian and joined the Swedish Pentecostal movement and began working as an evangelical singer. He recorded several records and toured in Sweden for many years. In the early 70's Jan toured with "Folkparksgruppen", a group of musicians including Pelle Karlsson for a few years. He also collaborated with artists and groups such as Göran Stenlund, Thore Skogman and Norlins.

Jan has also written a few biographical books about different periods of his life. Jan Sparring was a man who had a big heart for the weak in society and had an interest in supporting the socially beaten. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.