Stryper is an American Christian heavy metal band formed in Orange County, California, in 1983. Originally known as Roxx Regime, the band emerged with a distinctive combination of melodic heavy metal, hard rock, Christian lyrics, and an unmistakable yellow-and-black image. The classic lineup of Michael Sweet on vocals and guitar, Oz Fox on guitar, Tim Gaines on bass, and Robert Sweet on drums helped Stryper stand apart in the 1980s metal scene. After releasing The Yellow and Black Attack in 1984, the band gained further attention with Soldiers Under Command before reaching a much wider audience with To Hell with the Devil in 1986.

To Hell with the Devil became Stryper’s defining album, earning platinum certification in the United States and producing songs such as Calling on You, Free, and the power ballad Honestly. Stryper followed with In God We Trust in 1988, continuing a run that brought Christian heavy metal to audiences well beyond the Christian music market. Their combination of twin-guitar work, soaring vocals, melodic hooks, and openly Christian themes made Stryper one of the rare Christian metal bands of the era to achieve significant mainstream recognition.

After the band’s original run ended in the early 1990s, Stryper eventually reunited and returned to recording and touring. Michael Sweet, Robert Sweet, and Oz Fox have remained central to the band’s modern era, joined by longtime FireHouse bassist Perry Richardson. Decades after their original breakthrough, Stryper continues to release new music and perform for audiences around the world, giving the band a career that now stretches across more than four decades.

Stryper’s long history of touring has also produced guitar picks, backstage passes, tour laminates, promotional pieces, and other memorabilia representing different periods of the band’s career. For collectors, these pieces offer a connection to a band that brought an unusual combination of heavy metal and an openly Christian message into the mainstream rock world of the 1980s and continued well beyond that era. Browse our collection of authentic Stryper guitar picks and memorabilia below.