As I Lay Dying's jailed frontman Tim Lambesis admits being atheist and lying to Christian fans

The singer was convicted of plotting to murder his wife in March this year

Tim Lambesis, lead singer of As I Lay Dying (AP)

The frontman of a supposed Christian band, who was jailed for organising to have his wife killed, has admitted faking religious devotion to sell records.

Tim Lambesis, 33, is the founding member of US metalcore band As I Lay Dying but has been an atheist for years.

Furthermore, the lead singer revealed in a recent interview that he “wasn’t the first guy in the group to stop being a Christian” as two of his bandmates had “dropped” the religion before him.

Lambesis was convicted of attempting to hire a hitman to murder his estranged wife and, in divorce papers, she noted that he had shunned Christianity.

The musician told Alternative Press that he had distanced himself from religion while studying it at college.

“In the process of trying to defend my faith, I started thinking the other point of view was the stronger one,” he said, adding that he began using his new-found atheism as a justification for his sins.

“The first time I cheated on my wife, my interpretation of morality was now convenient for me,” he said. “I felt less guilty if I decided, ‘Well, marriage isn’t a real thing, because Christianity isn’t real. God isn’t real.’”

'Christian' band As I Lay Dying are not all as Christian as they seem (Getty Images)

But there was money to make with As I Lay Dying, so Lambesis pretended he was still a Christian. “When kids would want to pray with us after shows, I’d be like, ‘Um, go ahead and pray!’” he said.

“We were just singing about real-life stuff. Those kids need to hear about real life because they live in a bubble.”

Lambesis insisted that As I Lay Dying toured with “more ‘Christian bands’ who actually aren’t Christians than bands that are”.

The “Nothing Left” singer was sentenced to six years in prison in March after an undercover sting operation found that he had allegedly supplied police with details and money to murder his wife.