Retro Insider - "Amy Grant"

Time to discuss one of the women of Christian music... maybe the most well known female CCM artist of all time... Amy Grant.
Amy Grant is known in both the Christian and mainstream markets for her powerful music and her faith. She is the best selling Christian artist of all time and is also known for the controversy she has generated both through her music and her life.
Amy Lee Grant was born in 1960 in the state of Georgia and attended university and was signed to a record label at the age of sixteen. In 1977, she released her self titled debut album. The album was a huge success at the time. In 1979, she released The Father’s Eyes. The title track was co written by future husband Gary Chapman. In 1980 she released Never Alone. In 1982, she released Age to Age. This became the first Christian album to reach platinum status. She also married Gary Chapman, whom she had three children with.
In the eighties, she struck up a friendship with an up and coming star named Michael W. Smith, and they would later appear on each others records. In 1984, she released Straight Ahead. This album got her an appearance at the Grammy Awards.
Beyond her music, Amy had some different career ambitions. She had established herself as the Queen of Christian Pop, but now she wanted the mainstream market. 1985’s Unguarded caught her fans by surprise with the interesting album covers. Her open necked leopard jacket was quite risqué for Christian ideaology, circa mid eighties. In 1988, she released Lead Me On. This was not considered to be an “obviously” Christian record. Ironically, CCM Magazine, later voted this album as the best CCM album of all time.
In 1991, she released Heart in Motion. It had two number 1 hits on the mainstream markets. It is her highest selling record to date at 5 million copies. She began to promote her outer beauty, still in a wholesome way, but the Christian world questioned this action. Then in 1994, she released House of Love, with its catchy songs with spiritual lyrics, and in 1997 she released her Behind the Eyes album, a dark acoustic record she calls her Razor Blades and Prozac album.
In 1999, she divorced Chapman, citing irreconcilable differences, which really angered the Christian world. Then, it was discovered by the public that she had been seeing Vince Gill in the midst of all this, and in 2000, she married Gill in controversial fashion, causing many Christian bookshops to pull her records and some radio stations refusing to play her songs.
In 2002, she returned to her grassroots background with Legacy... Hymns and Faith. This record marked Grant’s 25th anniversary in CCM. In 2003, Simple Things returned her to her pop crowd. That same year she was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. In 2005, she released a second hymns record, Rock of Ages... Hymns of Faith. In 2007, she celebrated 30 years in CCM. To do so, she switched record labels, re-released all her back library remastered, and put out a greatest hits album. In 2008, she re-released her album, Lead Me On for its 20th anniversary. It was a double disc, later becoming a popular practice for mainstream artists.
Thus far, Amy has released three Christmas records along the way and has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show in 2007 along with her other achievments. She continues to be a controversial artist in the Christian realm, but to some, they wouldn't have it any other way.
For more information, check out her website at www.amygrant.com