1. Amy Grant began her music career in contemporary Christian music before crossing over to pop music in the mid-1980s.
36 Facts About Amy Grant
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Amy Grant was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006 for her contributions to the entertainment industry, and in 2022 she was announced as a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors.
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Amy Grant is the author of several books, including a memoir, Mosaic: Pieces of My Life So Far, and a book based on the popular Christmas song "Breath of Heaven " that she co-wrote.
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Amy Grant is a great-granddaughter of Nashville philanthropist AM Burton and Lillie Burton.
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Amy Grant has acknowledged the influence of the Burtons on her development as a musician, starting with their common membership in Nashville's Ashwood Church of Christ.
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In 1976, Amy Grant wrote her first song, performed in public for the first time at Harpeth Hall School, the all-girls school she attended in Nashville.
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Amy Grant recorded a demo tape for her parents with church youth-leader Brown Bannister.
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Amy Grant played it over the phone, and she was offered a recording contract five weeks before her 16th birthday.
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In 1977, she recorded her first album, Amy Grant, produced by Bannister, who produced her next 11 albums.
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In May 1979, while at the album-release party for her second album, My Father's Eyes, Amy Grant met Gary Chapman, who had written the title track.
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The album contains the signature track, "El Shaddai" and the Amy Grant-Chapman penned song, "In a Little While".
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Amy Grant followed this album with the first of her Christmas albums, which was later the basis for her holiday shows.
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Shortly after Amy Grant established herself as the "Queen of Christian Pop" she changed directions to widen her fan base.
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Amy Grant's goal was to become the first Christian singer-songwriter who was successful as a contemporary pop singer.
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Heart in Motion is Amy Grant's best-selling album, having sold over five million copies according to the RIAA.
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Amy Grant followed the album with her second Christmas album, Home For Christmas in 1992, which included the song "Breath of Heaven ", written by Chris Eaton and Amy Grant, and would later be covered by many artists, including Donna Summer, Jessica Simpson, Vince Gill, Sara Groves, Point of Grace, Gladys Knight, and Broadway star Barbara Cook.
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Amy Grant called it her "razor blades and Prozac" album.
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Amy Grant followed up "Behind The Eyes" with A Christmas To Remember, her third Christmas album, in 1999.
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Amy Grant returned to Christian pop with the 2002 release of an album of hymns titled Legacy.
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Amy Grant released a sequel in 2005 titled Rock of Ages.
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Amy Grant joined the reality television phenomenon by hosting Three Wishes, a show in which she and a team of helpers make wishes come true for small-town residents.
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Amy Grant Live was recorded in Fort Worth, Texas, at Bass Performance Hall.
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Amy Grant appeared with Gill on The Oprah Winfrey Show for a holiday special in December 2007.
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In February 2008, Amy Grant joined the writing team from Compassionart as a guest vocalist at the Abbey Road studios, London, to record a song called "Highly Favoured", which was included on the album CompassionArt.
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On June 24,2008, Amy Grant re-released her 1988 album, Lead Me On, in honor of its 20th anniversary.
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Amy Grant recreated the Lead Me On tour in the fall of 2008.
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In 2010, Amy Grant released Somewhere Down the Road, featuring the hit single "Better Than a Hallelujah", which peaked at No 8 on Billboard Top Christian Songs chart.
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On September 30,2014, Amy Grant released a new single titled "Welcome Yourself".
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Amy Grant released a Christmas album on October 21,2016, Tennessee Christmas, which is a combination of classic Christmas songs and original material.
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Amy Grant supported the album with a series of Christmas concerts with Vince Gill at the Ryman Auditorium.
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Amy Grant toured the US and Canada with Christmas concerts accompanied by Michael W Smith and season 9 winner of The Voice, Jordan Smith.
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Amy Grant has been a guest narrator for Disney's Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World in 2012,2013, and 2015.
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On June 19,1982, Amy Grant married fellow Christian musician Gary Chapman.
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On March 10,2000, Amy Grant married country singer-songwriter Vince Gill, who had been previously married to country singer Janis Oliver of Sweethearts of the Rodeo.
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Amy Grant and Gill have one daughter together, Corrina Amy Grant Gill, born March 12,2001.
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In June 2020, Amy Grant had an open-heart surgery to repair partial anomalous pulmonary venous return, a congenital heart condition.