With five previous top five finishes at Augusta, and a 6-shot lead, Norman's long-awaited Masters victory seemed to be evident.

Since Norman's first professional release in 1967 as a lead singer of the one-hit wonder band People !, more than 100 of his own albums have been released through such commercial record labels as Capitol, MGM, Verve, and his own independent labels: One Way Records, Solid Rock Records, Street Level Records, and Phydeaux Records.

Others who acknowledge Norman's influence on their career or music include American drummer Hilly Michaels, who recorded with Norman and Randy Stonehill in 1970 ; Grammy Award-winning recording artist and rapper TobyMac, who described Norman as " socially relevant, spiritually significant and passionate about challenging his generation to new heights of love ", considered Norman his " greatest lyrical influence "; Mark Salomon, the lead singer of Christian metal band Stavesacre and thrash metal band The Crucified, who reveals that it was Norman's concert performance that connected him to Christian music ; and Welsh singer-songwriter Martyn Joseph.

In one of the most astonishing final rounds in the tournament's history, Greg Norman loses a 5-shot third round lead to lose by 6, as Nick Faldo's superb 67 contrasts with Norman's dreadful 78.

A cover version of Larry Norman's Rapture-themed " I Wish We'd All Been Ready " appears in the Evangelical Christian feature film A Thief in the Night and appeared on Cliff Richard's Christian album Small Corners along with " Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music ?".

He understood the ability of music to get behind people's gates, to draw them in with a beautiful melody and good words, to make people drop their defensive position to the gospel — even if for a short time — and allow God to speak to them in that moment .... Norman's songs sought to have a relevance to life on the street, establishing a rapport with the musical and social culture around him, and leading his listeners to look to Jesus for the answers in their search for meaning.

Believing that " Kids just don't want to listen to God's empty songs anymore ", in December 1969 Capitol released Norman's first solo rock album, Upon This Rock, " the first major label record to marry rock music with the gospel ", " the Sergeant Pepper of Christianity ", widely regarded as " the album that first recruited rock in the service of salvation ", later cited as being " one of the roots of the current Contemporary Christian Music "; and now considered to be the first full-blown Christian rock album ".

Only Visiting This Planet, which was " Initially coordinated by George Martin ", and was produced by The Triumvirate of British producers Rod Edwards, Roger Hand, and Jon Miller, often ranked as Norman's best album, " mixed his Christian message with strong political themes ", and " was meant to reach the flower children disillusioned by the government and the church " with its " abrasive, urban reality of the gospel ".

In 1974 Norman and Kenn Gulliksen started a Bible Study in the living room of Norman's apartment at Doheny and Sunset in Los Angeles that was only for musicians and actors, including regulars Jerry Houser and Julie Harris, which after six months, was named " The Vineyard ", and later, with another Bible study at the home of Chuck Girard, became part of the founding congregation of the Association of Vineyard Churches.

At this time, Philip Mangano organized three book deals for Norman: a biography by English journalist Steve Turner, which would be published by Word ; a book of Norman's photographs ; and another with photographs of Norman.

The creative rush that followed Norman's healing was expressed on Stranded in Babylon which saw him collaborate with his younger brother Charles " Charly " Norman.

In order to meet Norman's hospital bills, in November 2002 Solid Rock Records began releasing the Essential Series on CD-R, a set of seven Norman albums, with 142 songs ( including 16 previously unreleased songs ), which comprised: Instigator, which included rough mix versions of two previously unreleased songs, " Butterfly " and " Kulderachna ", both removed from 1973's So Long Ago the Garden ; Agitator, which included three unreleased bonus tracks, " Sweet Silver Angels ", " God, Part 2 ", and " People In My Past "; Liberator, which included songs that were aimed at " liberating Christians who felt trapped inside the church and also providing a cultural doorway to allow those who felt dismissed and isolated by Christianity to find their way into fellowship with Christ regardless of the church's response toward them "; Collaborator, which featured songs representing " the combined efforts of Charles and Larry from lyrics and melodies to arrangements and production ", including three unreleased songs: " Perfect World ", " Don't Wanna Be Like You ", and " Jesus Is God ", recorded about 2000 ; Emancipator, included two unreleased songs of Norman singing with Randy Stonehill: a Christian version of the folk song " He Was a Friend of Mine ", which had been popularized by The Byrds and Bob Dylan, which was re-titled " He is a Friend of Mine ", and " I Love You ", the song Stonehill and Norman co-wrote in 1971 for Stonehill's Born Twice album ; Infiltrator, which sees love as " the most powerful infiltrator in the world ", is a collection of Norman's love songs, and includes two new releases: a cover of David Noble's " Waves of Grace ", and " Stranger, Won't You Change "; and Survivor, included the full 8-minute version of " Dark Passage ", an unreleased third verse of " Baby Out of Wedlock ", and " One Star Remains ", which is Judee Sill's " My Man On Love " from her 1971 eponymous debut album.

In August 1985 Norman and his wife Sarah had their only child, Michael David Fariah Finch Norman, who was born ten weeks prematurely in Los Angeles, After Michael's birth Sarah was diagnosed with post-partum depression, which inspired Norman's song " Baby's Got the Blues ", which was released on Stranded in Babylon in 1991.

Larry Norman's relationship with the wider Christian church, and with the Christian music industry, has been contentious for a number of years.

In 2008 Philip Cooney attempted to explain the causes of Norman's problems with some Christians:

A letter arrives from Chelsea saying that she is coming from California with her boyfriend Bill to celebrate Norman's 80th birthday.

" After Norman's par on the 18th, for an even-par round of 72, he found himself in a playoff with Larry Mize and Ballesteros.

In Norman's heyday, driving long and incredibly straight off the tee similar to that of Nick Price, his contemporary with a persimmon ( wood ) clubhead, he intimidated most of his fellow professionals.

" British pop singer Cliff Richard, who recorded three of Norman's songs on his 1977 Small Corners album, indicated: " Larry was one of our greatest contemporary Christian songwriters, who made it his business to prove that the devil did not ' have all the good music '!

The Telnarian Histories ( 1991 – 1993 ) are a series of three space opera novels which express philosophical messages consistent with those of author John Norman's other works of fiction.

He also achieved success with concept albums of his own orchestral suites: Le Sacre Du Sauvage, Festival Of The Gnomes, Ports Of Pleasure, and Brazil Now, the first three for Capitol and the fourth on Gene Norman's Crescendo label.

He also worked with Greg Norman on his multi-media learning system Greg Norman's Better Golf, which consists of three videos, a book, skill guide cards, and an audio tape ; as well as on Greg Norman's book Advanced Golf.

Consumer straight talk – Norman's last eight video tapes.

The start of the Norman Conquest was the Battle of Hastings, fought on 14 October 1066 ; although the battle itself took place to the north at Senlac Hill, and William had landed on the coast between Hastings and Eastbourne at a site now known as Norman's Bay.

In 1976 he played piano on Larry Norman's album In Another Land, in particular on the song " The Sun Began to Rain.

Aberavon was first established by Caradoc ap Iestyn ( son of Iestyn ap Gwrgant ), on the instructions of Robert Fitzhamon, after the Norman's conquest of south Wales by the end of the eleventh century.

Stonehill's self-composed song " Norman's Kitchen " released initially in 1971 on his Born Twice, his debut album, describes the circumstances.

Norman's next musical was Love on Haight Street, also written in 1969, and another project that involved Norman was Bailey ; Some songs from these unreleased musicals appeared later on various albums.

American Christian rock historian John J. Thompson identifies several factors in the collapse of Solid Rock, including possibly an over reliance on Norman's celebrity ; Norman's confrontational lyrics and music, which alienated both the Christian and mainstream music industries ; Norman's over-commitment, including producing almost all of the Solid Rock albums, contributing songs, and singing backing vocals ; and " by releasing high-quality music by the best bands, Norman doomed his label to almost certain failure.

Home At Last, Norman's first album on a major US CCM label, was a double album that was promoted by its distributor, Benson Records, as Norman's " comeback album ", announcing " Larry Norman's Back ".

In 1998 Norman performed at Flevo backed by Beam, a young Dutch band, to a mixed reception as Norman's label wanted a new set of songs to be released on another live album, Shouting In The Storm, which sold poorly in Europe, and led to GMI dropping Norman from the label.

Norman's creative resurgence was cut short by a nine hour heart attack on February 28, 1992 in Los Angeles, which was initially misdiagnosed as esophagitis by the staff at Cedars Sinai Hospital, and resulted in a near fatality and permanent heart damage.

The Gospel Music Association said: Larry Norman's music – an unlikely mix of love songs, the Gospel message, and wry commentary on American culture – exemplified the goals, ideals, and standards of everything the original architects of contemporary Christian music intended for it to be.

Billed as " Larry Norman's Last Concert ", on October 18, 2003 the Church of the Nazarene in Beaverton, Oregon organized a concert to celebrate Norman's 45 years in music, and to raise funds for Norman's medical bills.

The relationship between pioneer Christian rock musicians Larry Norman and Randy Stonehill, sometimes described as the Lennon – McCartney of Christian rock, was a controversial one during its more than forty years from its inception in 1967 until Norman's death in February 2008.

The relationship between pioneer Christian rock musicians Larry Norman and Randy Stonehill, sometimes described as the Lennon – McCartney of Christian rock, was a controversial one during its more than forty years from its inception in 1967 until Norman's death in February 2008.

While the project was conceived and initiated before Norman's death, on May 27, 2008 the Arena Rock Recording company released Larry Norman – Rebel Poet, Jukebox Balladeer: The Anthology, " a posthumous collection " of a selection of Norman's pre-1978 songs " designed to belatedly introduce a mainstream audience to Norman's music ".

Norman's songs were wide-ranging, addressing such matters as politics ( The Great American Novel ), free love ( Pardon Me ), the passive commercialism of war – time journalists ( I Am The Six O ' Clock News ), witchcraft and the occult ( Forget Your Hexagram ), alienation ( Lonely by Myself ), religious hypocrisy ( Right Here In America ) and many topics largely outside of the scope of his contemporaries.

He is nicknamed The Great White Shark or sometimes simply The Shark – a reference to Norman's blond hair, size, aggressive golf style and the shark inhabited Australian waters.

Just six years later, by 1997 however, Norman was tied for 75th place as the longest driver on the PGA Tour – an indication of the significant impact that the new " metal-wood " technology had made on many of Norman's rivals to achieve better driving distance than him.

Jessye Norman's 1998 – 1999 performances included a recital at Carnegie Hall in New York City, which had an unusual program incorporating sacred music of Duke Ellington, scored for jazz combo, string quartet and piano, and featuring the Alvin Ailey Repertory Dance Ensemble.

Genuine musical performances by guest stars were countered by Norman's own unique interpretations of popular songs – he specialised in portraying his lyrics through mime and sign language and frequently punctuated the song with ' dramatic ' interjections.

* " Norman's Dreamtime " – a mock-fairytale segment in which Gunston regaled a group of increasingly bored children with readings from a book of iconic Australian fables, with titles such as " Why Underpants Ride Up "

* a weekly review of the show's ratings over previous weeks, with suggestions on how viewers and the studio audience might help them skyrocket ; later in Series 1 this focused on Norman's increasingly desperate campaign to win the coveted Gold Logie – which is, ironically, exactly what transpired at the 1976 Logies.

This comic device led to his memorable exchange with visiting American actress Sally Struthers – noting Norman's apparent shaving cuts, she kindly suggested that perhaps Gunston should use an electric razor ; the nonplussed Norman replied " Uh, I do ", at which point Struthers collapsed in a fit of laughter.

The series, which satirised many aspects of Australian culture and show business, was a mixture of live and pre-recorded interviews, awkward musical segments – excruciatingly sung by Gunston himself in the broadest ' strine ' accent – and continuing comedy sketches such as " Norman's Dreamtime " ( in which Norman read stories to a group of children, such as " Why Underpants Ride Up ").

Before this time, from 1954 – 1974 meetings were held in Ruth Norman's home or at public meeting facilities.