A Christmas to Remember (Compact Disc)

Christmas Can't Be Very Far Aw

Til The Season Comes 'round Ag

Amy Grant

Amy Lee Grant was born in Augusta, Georgia on November 25, 1960. She grew up in Nashville in a strong Christian home that instilled faith and family  values. Her father was a successful radiologist and came from a prestigious and wealthy Nashville family. His grandfather (and Amy's great-grandfather), A.M. Burton, was actually considered the founding father of the modern city of Nashville.

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He started a successful insurance company and gave millions of dollars to charitable, religious institutions.

Amy was the youngest of four girls, the baby of the family. The Grants claim that even as a very young child, Amy was entertaining them with songs and dances. Her family nurtured their daughter's creative talents and encouraged her to use the gifts God had given her. The Grant's attended church services every Sunday afternoon, every Sunday night and every Wednesday evening. Amy learned to sight-read music at church and sang with the choir. She tried piano lessons, but was quickly bored by them.

When Amy turned 12, she made two decisions that would change her life and have impacted her music to this day. She made a commitment to the Church of Christ and volunteered for baptism. She also decided to learn to play the guitar. By the time she was 15, she had written her first song, Brand New Start.

It was through her songs that Amy first began to share her faith with others. She spent hours writing and practicing while attending Harpeth Hall, an all-girls school in Nashville. It was at a school prayer service that she had her first "real performance." She sang songs written from her heart, and when she opened her eyes and saw girls crying, she realized that God had given her a way to share His love with other people. As she continued to play her music at these prayer meetings, girls began to share their hearts with Amy and she found her way to talk to others about God.

Amy's first real "break" came while making a devotional tape for her parents. A young producer named Chris Christian happened to overhear the tape and was so touched by it that he called his record company in Texas and played it over the phone for them. They signed her immediately. Her first album, Amy Grant, sold 50,000 copies--a huge success by gospel music standards.

Amy's second album, My Father's Eyes won a Dove Award for the title song "Father's Eyes," written by Gary Chapman. It would mark her first real success and would make a name for her in the gospel music industry.

Her third album, Age to Age, was the first album nominated for a Grammy. Thinking she did not have a chance of winning, her managers booked Amy into a concert in Memphis the night of the awards. In the middle of the concert, Amy got the news that she had won and immediately shared the news with her fans. Age to Age also won a Dove Award for Best Gospel Album of the year.

As Amy's career continued to grow, her family became more involved. They packaged records and videos, and her brother-in-law became her first business manager. The family grew by one when she married Gary Chapman, her guitarist and writer, on June 19, 1982.

Three years later, her ninth album, Unguarded went gold. It won a Dove award for Gospel Album of the Year and the Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance--Female. The single, "Find a Way," made the Top Forty on the Billboard charts--building the bridge for Amy between Christian gospel and pop music. It would be the first step in a new direction her career was about to take--but certainly not the last or the biggest. "Next Time I Fall" came two years later. The duet with Peter Cetera went to Number One on all the pop charts. It was a huge success and marked her first Grammy nomination in a non-gospel category.

That year also brought another blessing with the birth of Amy and Gary's first child, Matthew Garrison Chapman on September 25, 1987.

Released two years later, Lead Me Onshipped gold and received a Grammy nomination in the Best Gospe category--Amy was awarded her fifth Grammy. It was while working on this album that Amy gave birth to her second child, Gloria Mills Chapman, called Millie after Amy's beloved great-grandma.

The release of Heart In Motion proved again that Amy Grant was continually striving to reach higher goals. In 1991, "Baby, Baby" a song inspired by her daughter Millie, topped both the Billboard andR&R charts simultaneously. Heart in Motion received four Grammy nominations including Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Top Performance by a Female and Album of the Year in 1992. This same year, on October 11th, Amy's third child, Sarah Cannon Chapman was born.

House of Love, was released in 1994. The album included a duet with Vince Gill ("House of Love") and "Children of the World," a song about God's love for little ones and the obligation we all have to make the world a better place for them. It is a song that spoke of Amy Grant's own convictions to support and encourage others in any way she can.

Amy participates in Nashville's Leadership Music Program and meets with terminally ill children as part of the "Make a Wish" Foundation. She has hosted benefits for the *American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and most recently has worked with Habitat for Humanity. In 1992, Amy was named Young Tennessean of the Year by the Nashville Chamber of Commerce. She has also been honored with the Pax Christi Award, The Peace of Christ Award, marking only the third time a woman has ever received this award since its inception in 1963.

Amy's most recent project has been the long awaited new album, Behind the Eyes.

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Born: November 25, 1960 in Augusta, GA
Siblings: 3 older sisters
Married: to Gary Chapman, June 19, 1982
Kids: Matthew Garrison Chapman 9/25/87, Gloria Mills (Millie), Chapman 12/16/89, Sarah Cannon Chapman 10/11/92
Wrote her first song: 15 years old
Number of albums (including new maxi-single): 15
Longest tour: Unguarded (June 1984 - September 1, 1986)
First car she learned to drive on: Green '63 VW Bug
College: Furman University in SC and Vanderbilt University in TN
Favorite Food: Spaghetti
Favorite pastime: Gardening and cleaning
6^th grade music love: Cher
7^th grade music love: Carole King
8^th grade music love: Bette Midler
Favorite sports to play: Skiing, golf
Favorite Bible verse: Hebrews 10:23
Favorite Prayer: Psalm 139
Favorite childhood book: Charlotte's Web

*All photographs provided by Myrrh Records. Used by permission (p) 1997. Unauthorized useage of these photos is prohibited by law.