I saw her in concert once, invited by my sister – a thoroughly dedicated fan, if ever there was one – to attend one of Grant’s Christmas concerts. In truth, she was never the dogmatic, hyper-pious figure that some people wanted her to be. And her 1999 divorce and subsequent marriage to country music star Vince Gill further alienated her from some of the faithful. Some of her more fervent evangelical followers felt betrayed that she had turned her back on them. Four songs from that album landed in the top 10 of the secular Adult Contemporary pop chart, including “Baby Baby,” which hit No. Her self-stated goal was to be successful in both worlds, and with her album “Heart in Motion” (1991), she accomplished just that. I’ve always admired artists who are not content to stick with a formula, and just at the time Grant was crowned “Queen of Christian Pop,” before she was even 26, she took an enormous risk, changing the direction of her music by moving into mainstream pop music. Besides her vocal talent, Grant had a knack for writing and collaborating that conveyed the Christian message in a way that appealed to the emerging contemporary worship scene and fit easily into the evangelical Christian radio market. When she began her career as a teenager, contemporary Christian music was transitioning from its early days in the 1960s Jesus Movement, rooted in the folk tradition, to a more polished pop sound. It doesn’t diminish her accomplishments to observe that she came along at just the right time.
There’s no need to rehash Grant’s biography, except to note that she has six Grammys and something like 20 Dove awards from the Gospel Music Association. She is the first explicitly Christian artist to receive the award (although I would argue that her fellow honorees, rock band U2, are subtly Christian), and it’s a fitting honor for an artist with a long and remarkable career.
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington to artists for lifetime achievement. It was announced last week that Grant is a 2022 Kennedy Center honoree, an award given by the John F.
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