Amy Grant is opening up about healing, creativity, and rediscovering purpose following the release of her first new studio album in 13 years, The Me That Remains.
Appearing on The Russell Moore Show with Russell Moore, the six-time Grammy winner reflected on the deeply personal journey behind the newly released project, which arrived alongside a launch concert at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium.
Grant explained that the album did not begin with a grand plan to return to recording after more than a decade away from releasing new music. Instead, she said the songs emerged naturally during a season of reflection and recovery.
"I didn't say, 'Man, it's time to do a record. It's been 13 years,'" Grant shared. "It truly was just so lovely to be creative and let it emerge."
The new album follows a difficult chapter in Grant's life after the serious bike accident she suffered in 2022, which resulted in head trauma and lingering memory challenges.
"There was a heightened anxiety," Grant admitted. "Everything was like, 'I can't do this anymore. I can't do that.'"
The singer recalled later finding the helmet she wore during the accident and emotionally confronting the reality of how severe the crash had been.
"I just looked at it and went, 'God, go easy on yourself. Go easy,'" she said.
Despite ongoing memory struggles, Grant said she has learned to navigate the season with humor, patience, and intentionality, relying on routines, lists, alarms, and balance exercises as part of her continued recovery.
The making of The Me That Remains also became part of a larger emotional and spiritual healing process. Grant revealed that therapy played a significant role in helping her confront self-criticism and embrace the different seasons of her life.
"The invitation to be critical of yourself - for me, it's there every day," Grant said. "It's just like sitting there with its arms crossed, smoking a cigarette, waiting to get my attention."
One assignment from a therapist especially impacted her: writing a eulogy to her younger self.
"It was so freeing," Grant explained. "I'm going to think about a time in my life and focus on the good and write it down."
Throughout the interview, Grant reflected on her unlikely rise as one of Christian music's most influential artists, revealing she never originally aspired to be a performer.
"My desire was not to be in front of people," she said. "I sort of fell in through the side door for a lifelong musical career, but not because I ever knocked on the front door."
Grant also discussed the themes woven throughout The Me That Remains, including empathy, healing, grace, and finding common ground in a divided culture. Speaking about the song "How Do We Get There From Here," inspired partly by Nashville's Covenant School tragedy, Grant said one recurring message shaped the entire record: "love sees."
"To see somebody else's life, to see what they're fighting for on both sides, and to be willing to say, 'I hear you,'" she explained.
Near the end of the conversation, Grant reflected on the deeper purpose she hopes continues to guide both her music and her life.
"I want to fulfill whatever the purpose is for my unique wiring," she said. "It might be one conversation on a plane with a total stranger. You don't ever really know.
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Album Review: Amy Grant Delivers Her Most Arresting Work in Decades on "The Me That Remains"
