Amy Grant is opening up about the deeply personal journey behind her first new album in more than a decade. In the debut episode of her new eight-part podcast series The Me That Remains, the Christian music icon sat down with broadcaster Khalil Ekulona to discuss the unexpected path that led to the creation of the project, offering fans a rare glimpse into her creative process and the life experiences that shaped the record.
For Grant, the album was never part of a carefully crafted career plan. Despite maintaining a busy touring schedule of 70 to 80 shows a year, she admitted that she did not expect to record another full-length studio project in her sixties. Instead, the album emerged organically as she began intentionally writing songs again during the summer of 2024.
"I just started intentionally writing songs again," Grant explained. "I was curious to explore different songwriting relationships maybe that I never had explored before. Little by little, two songs at a time, four more songs, and all of a sudden I went, 'Well, we got a record.'"
The album arrives after one of the most challenging periods of Grant's life. In recent years, the beloved singer underwent open-heart surgery and endured a traumatic brain injury following a serious bicycle accident. Those experiences profoundly influenced both her outlook and the themes explored throughout The Me That Remains.
During the conversation, Grant reflected on how revisiting songs from earlier stages of her career often made her realize how much her perspective had evolved. Rather than simply celebrating the past, she felt compelled to write about the realities of life as she experiences it today.
"Wouldn't it be fun to sing about what life looks like now?" she recalled thinking. That simple question became the spark that eventually ignited a new creative season.
One of the most surprising discoveries during the album-making process was finding a new rhythm for songwriting. While deadlines and late-night writing sessions had characterized much of her earlier career, Grant revealed that many of the songs on the new album were born during quiet mornings before sunrise.
"Sometimes I would wake up before the sun would come up and just sit with a pen and paper," she shared. "Songwriting for me at this point is all about time, intention, patience."
The project also allowed Grant to approach collaboration differently than ever before. Working with longtime friends and acclaimed songwriters-including Michael W. Smith, John Foreman, Tom Douglas, Chris Eaton, Caroline Jones, and others-she often arrived with completed lyrics rather than building songs around pre-existing melodies.
One particularly memorable collaboration involved Michael W. Smith. Grant brought him the lyrics for a song called "The Saint" and challenged him to help create the musical framework around the words. The pair experimented with tempos, drum loops, and musical textures before eventually discovering the song's final shape.
"It was as we were tracking the song that I was figuring out what to sing," Grant recalled. "The real gift of this project was just the creativity at every step."
Throughout the interview, Grant emphasized that what she has to offer listeners today is not perfection, but perspective. She acknowledged that younger artists may be more prolific or technically gifted, yet believes her unique contribution comes from the lens through which she now views life.
"If you're going to offer something, offer what's unique to you because every person sees life through a slightly different lens," she said. "When we share that with each other, it broadens our perspective."
With The Me That Remains, Grant is doing exactly that-inviting listeners into a season marked by resilience, reflection, creativity, and hope. For an artist whose career has already spanned decades, the album serves as a powerful reminder that some of life's most meaningful songs can emerge when they are least expected.
