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Amy Grant can hardly believe she recently made headlines and drew criticism for celebrating love. The singer, who’s written many songs for Hallmark movies and starred in “Amy Grant’s Tennessee Christmas,” has broken her silence about the backlash she recently received, particularly from evangelical Christians, for hosting her niece’s same-sex wedding on the farm she owns with her husband and fellow musician Vince Gill. Here’s what you need to know:
Amy Grant Defends Family Wedding: ‘I Love Those Brides’
HallmarkAmy Grant and Vince Gill on “Amy Grant’s Tennessee Christmas”
In early December 2022, according to the Washington Post, Grant became the first contemporary Christian singer to receive the Kennedy Center Honors, which celebrate performers who’ve made a “lifetime of contributions to American culture.” In addition to becoming known as the “Queen of Christian Pop,” she also experienced success with mainstream contemporary hits, selling more than 30 million albums, and winning multiple Grammy Awards and Gospel Music Association Dove Awards.
But in the Post’s profile of her leading up to the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony, the revelation that Grant and Gill would soon host their first “bride and bride wedding” for her niece on their Tennessee farm infuriated some fans despite — and in some cases because of — her explanation of why she has long supported LGBTQ+ rights.
Grant, 62, told the Post, “Honestly, from a faith perspective, I do always say, ‘Jesus, you just narrowed it down to two things: Love God and love each other.’ I mean, hey — that’s pretty simple.”
The Baptist News wrote that “she came out in full support of the thing evangelical Christians fear the most: same-sex marriage” and the backlash was swift, including condemnation from famous evangelist Franklin Graham, who tweeted, “God defines what is sin, not us; & His Word is clear that homosexuality is sin.”
On January 16, 2023, Grant told People magazine that she’s done her best to ignore most of the backlash.
“I never chase any of those rabbits down the rabbit hole,” she said. “I love my family, I love those brides. They’re wonderful, our family is better, and you should be able to be who you are with your family, and be loved by them.”
Grant’s niece and her wife were married on the same farm where she and Gill married nearly 23 years ago.
“I own a farm that I bought back in the ’90s and they were just looking for a beautiful place to get married,” she told People. “So, she and Sam got married on the same hillside where Vince and I got married.”
Amy Grant is Still Recovering But Feeling ‘Fantastic’ After Bike Accident
In addition to fending off naysayers, Grant continues to recover from a frightening July bike accident that forced her to cancel her concerts through the summer and fall. According to WKRN in Nashville, the singer was taken by ambulance to an area hospital after falling off her bike on a local trail. On July 29, her team updated fans via an Instagram post, revealing that though she was out of the hospital, her doctors had ordered more recovery time.
Though she was wearing a helmet, Grant revealed in her recent People interview that she suffered a head injury in the accident and still deals with low stamina and memory issues.
She said, “Well, they said a 12 to 18-month recovery for a head injury and so every once in a while, I’ll be talking to somebody, and they’ll say something that I guess I used to know, and I’ll gasp and go, ‘Are you kidding me?!'”
Grant recalled feeling depressed after her accident, wondering if she’d ever get back to normal.
“The biggest thing was in the two months after the wreck, it was really depressing,” she explained. “Everything canceled, and I just said, ‘What if I’m never all the way back?'”
Grant, whose most recent song for Hallmark was featured in the 2022 movie “When I Think of Christmas,” said that her husband helped her get through the worst of her recovery.
“(Gill) said, ‘Things happen to people every day, and you just have to take one day at a time, and we’re here, and I love you,'” she recalled. “And that just kind of made every day of the journey okay. And I do feel fantastic.”