About Amy (continued)
Setting a New Standard
The year 1982 saw the release of what was to become Amy's signature album, AGE TO AGE. Record company execs stepped up the production and marketing of both the album and the artist, and the investment paid off. AGE TO AGE won Amy her first Dove Awards including Contemporary album of the Year and Artist of the Year, plus a Grammy win for Best Gospel Performance. Age To Age was the album that brought the songs "Sing Your Praise to the Lord," and "El Shaddai" to the modern church's hymnbook and sent Amy Grant on her most ambitious tour yet. The album's success led to the quick turnaround follow-up album, STRAIGHT AHEAD, which brought more sales records, radio #1's and Dove and Grammy wins, including a performance of the album's hit, "Angels" on the Grammy Awards national broadcast. It was a first for Christian music and for the Grammys, and certainly not the last time Amy Grant made news and made noise.
In 1985, Christian music was a formidable force, but still a world within itself. Enter Amy Grant and a new concept, sort of: crossing over. Some early Jesus Music folks had tried to take their music to the broader mainstream world. In truth, most of them had begun in mainstream music and used that platform to introduce their faith-based music. Amy Grant was different. She was firmly entrenched in the gospel world and was ready to take her message to the outside world. UNGUARDED was the vehicle for that dream--an album made with "crossing over" definitely in mind. It also marked the beginnings of tension between those who thought crossing over was tantamount to "selling out the gospel" and Amy's desire to share her heart, her music and her faith in any arena that would listen--even if that meant pop stardom.
Breaking More Ground
And that's exactly what it did mean. UNGUARDED opened doors that Christian musicians could only dream about before. Her first single, "Find a Way," found its way onto mainstream radio and even birthed a video for MTV. The album charted in Billboard and Amy made her way through the maze of national publicity opportunities, including morning television talk shows, late night talk shows, afternoon entertainment shows and a host of specials, including her own CBS Christmas outing.
In her personal life, Amy became a mother with the birth of Matthew Garrison in 1987, while recording her next album, LEAD ME ON. The album passionately reflected the new turns her life had taken. Its unmistakable folk leanings and stark vulnerability of lyric marked it as a decided departure from UNGUARDED, yet the album seemed a very natural progression for this always surprising and innovative artist. In fact, it became Amy Grant's most critically acclaimed album. Her ever-present vulnerability, both in her music and her life, seemed even more poignant and her new maturity as she began the adventure of motherhood permeated the songs.
Two years later, Amy welcomed Gloria Mills ("Millie"), her first daughter and the inspiration for what was to become Amy's trademark and breakthrough song, "Baby, Baby." Recorded for HEART IN MOTION, the now multiplatinum album that made Amy a mainstream pop star, "Baby, Baby" was the first "Christian" music song to reach the coveted number one spot on Billboard's chart. A video for the song that celebrated the romantic over the motherly translation of the tune landed lauds from the MTV crowd, but controversy from some of Amy's older fans, who again saw her courting of a mainstream audience as a sell-out of her faith. Nothing could have been farther from the truth, but Amy didn't let the criticism rule her. As her celebrity grew, so did the opportunities. As Christian music's most well-known export, Amy became an ambassador for the faith and for the musical tradition that celebrated it. Amy Grant put Christian music on the map and was having no trouble keeping it there.
Two years after the birth of her second daughter, Sarah Cannon (named for beloved Grand Old Opry star and Grant family friend, Minnie Pearl), Amy's 14th album, HOUSE OF LOVE released. The album included the hit title cut duet with country superstar Vince Gill. Although not the multiplatinum blockbuster of its predecessor, the album hit double platinum and continued the trail that HEART IN MOTION blazed. Lighthearted love songs mingled with straightforward songs of devotion to God in a pure pop package proved again to be a winning combination.