Amy Grant, Age To Age, 1982 Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960 in Augusta, Georgia) is an American singer-songwriter whose music has strong Christian themes. She was initially most successful in the "Christian pop" or CCM genre, and is notable for being one of the first CCM artists to have successfully crossed over into the mainstream pop music market. She has won multiple Grammy and Dove awards and was elected to the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2003. To date she has 5 gold and 6 platinum albums.
Career
Signed to a record company at the age of sixteen, Grant's first, self-titled album (largely self-composed) was a runaway success in terms of the Christian music market of the time. As an English major at Vanderbilt University, Grant quietly made a few more albums, before abandoning her college career for one in music. 1982's Age to Age was her first album to make critics sit up and take notice.
Hardly had Grant established herself as the rightful "Queen of Christian Pop", however, when she changed directions to widen her fan base (and hence her musical message). Her goal was to become the first Christian singer-songwriter who was also successful as a contemporary pop singer, being successful in both genres. 1985's Unguarded shocked some fans for its very mainstream sound (and Grant's leopard-print jacket, in four poses for four different covers). "Find a Way," from Unguarded, became the first Christian song to hit Billboard's Top 40 list. Amy Grant scored her first Billboard Number One hit with "The Next Time I Fall", a breezy duet with Chicago frontman Peter Cetera
1988's Lead Me On, released after Grant had become a mother and undergone considerable strain in her marriage, is considered her most mature album, both lyrically and musically. This album, too, contained many songs that were not obviously "Christian". An uncharacteristical upbeat song, "Saved by Love", was was a minor hit, receiving airplay on radio stations featuring newly emerging Adult Contemporary format.
Nevertheless, when Heart in Motion was released three years later, many fans were shocked and outraged that the album was so clearly one of contemporary pop music. The track "Baby Baby" (written for Grant's new-born daughter, Millie), however, became a massive hit, and Grant was established as a name in the mainstream music world. Heart in Motion is her best-selling album, having sold over 5 million copies.
House of Love continued in the same vein. 1997's Behind the Eyes, however, struck a much darker note, and it soon became clear that Grant's longtime marriage to Gary Chapman was at an end. The two separated, then divorced. Fans were not thrilled. Grant remarried the next year to Vince Gill. This further outraged some fans, but the numbers were more than counterbalanced by those gained.
Grant is a longstanding member of the Gospel Music Association (GMA), who awards the Dove Awards annually and is maintainer of the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
Albums
External link
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